PRESS RELEASE

Ahmedabad, May 24 2004:

Hutch, the leading cellular service provider in Gujarat, today announced that it has crossed the landmark of 1 million subscribers, becoming the first mobile service provider in the state to achieve this milestone. Sanjoy Mukerji, Chief Executive Officer, Hutch Gujarat, made this announcement in Gujarat today.

The citizens of Gujarat have time and again chosen Hutch, enabling it to maintain market leadership in the cellular industry in the state. Hutch added nearly 5 lakh subscribers over the last year, thereby doubling their customer base and witnessing a significant growth (source COAI data).

Hutch in Gujarat, is the third circle in the Hutch fold, after New Delhi and Mumbai, to cross the landmark of 1 million. Such response has been possible due to Hutch's consistent efforts over the last year in providing world-class delivery in network quality, customer service and innovative value added services.

Commenting on achieving the landmark milestone, Sanjoy Mukerji said, "As a part of our ongoing commitment to customer service, we will further enhance our network quality in key locations by increasing cell sites by over 33% by the end of 2004. Our focus will remain on augmenting our customer services by adding to the existing 650 Mobile Recharge Zones that already exist across key locations in Gujarat, and launching fully connected Mobile Hutch Shops in upcountry Gujarat to reach out to customers who cannot reach us."

He further added, "Today, we serve over a million customers. It has been a wonderful 7 years and I thank the people of Gujarat for giving us their support."

About Hutch

Hutch is the leading cellular service provider in Gujarat with over One Million subscribers.

Fascel Limited provides cellular services in Gujarat under the brand name HUTCH. Hutchison Essar has licenses for 13 circles - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Haryana, UP (E), UP (W), Punjab and West Bengal & Sikkim. Hutchison Essar now has a combined subscriber base of over 5 million cellular subscribers. Hutch was been rated the best on a number of parameters: it was rated 'Best Mobile Service in the Country' by the national Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) survey of mobile users and named 'Creative Advertiser of the Year' and won the 'Campaign of the Year' award at the annual Abby 2004 advertising awards function.

For more information, contact: