Videocon, which recently received a pan-Indian licence to provide telephony services through its subsidiary, Datacom, has put in an expression of interest to acquire Motorola's handset business.

Purchasing Motorola's handphone business, which has manufacturing facilities in China, Taiwan and India, is likely to help Videocon step ahead of Sony Ericsson to become the world's third largest maker of mobile phones. According to media reports, Merrill Lynch has estimated Motorola's handset business at $3.8 billion.