Hinduja Group on Thursday said it was "very much in the race" to acquire India's fourth largest mobile player Hutch-Essar and said that it would begin reading the books of the target company from Monday.

Reacting to the media reports that Hinduja has pulled out from the race to acquire Hutch-Essar, Hinduja TMT

Executive chairman Ashok Hinduja told PTI, "I am surprised by the spread of this kind of false news that we are withdrawing form the race for acquiring Hutch- Essar."

"We are very much in the race and our due diligence would start on February 5. There is no question of withdrawing from the race," he added.

The Times, without quoting any source, had reported that the UK-based Hinduja brothers, who had earlier expressed interest in buying Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom's stake in the Indian venture, are no longer deemed serious bidders.

British telecom firm Vodafone is expected to lodge a formal bid for buying Hutchison Telecom's 67 per cent stake in Hutch-Essar within days.

Besides the Hindujas and Vodafone, others in line to acquire Hutchison's 67 per cent stake include Hutch-Essar's Indian partner Essar, Reliance Communications and Maxis of Malaysia.

The race for Hutch-Essar