Vodafone Group’s planned initial public offering (IPO) of its Indian business is expected to go ahead as early as Q4, according to a Reuters report.

The London-based group is working on the prospectus for the IPO and is likely to file it in August. The long-awaited IPO, which has been held back due to long-running tax disputes with the Indian government, is reportedly expected to raise between $2 billion and $2.5 billion and will be used to lower the company’s debt.

A Vodafone representative told Reuters he couldn’t comment on the timeline, noting that the potential India IPO was a “lengthy process” and no decision would be made until the company was at the end of it. According to an industry source, the timing will depend on local stock market conditions.

Vodafone India, with nearly 200 million mobile connections and a 19 per cent market share, is the country’s second largest operator after Bharti Airtel, which has a 24 per cent share, according to GSMA Intelligence.

The British company entered India in 2007 and reportedly first made noises about the prospect of listing in the country in 2011.

In April Vodafone selected Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Kotak Investment Banking and UBS to handle the IPO process.

Vodafone India reported solid results for its fiscal year ending 31 March, with revenue growth accelerating in the January to March period as it expanded its 3G customer base and data usage soared.