Bharti Airtel Board Approves Raising up to Rs 7,500 crore via Debt Instruments

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel's board on Tuesday gave an enabling approval for raising up to Rs 7,500 crore through debt instruments. 

Bharti Airtel had last month announced that tech titan Google will invest as much as USD 1 billion in the company for picking up a 1.28 per cent stake and scaling up offerings of India's second-largest mobile phone operator. Over the last few months, telecom operators have been adding more firepower to their arsenal, as the market gears up for rollout of 5G services that will usher in ultra high-speeds and spawn new-age services and business models. In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Airtel said the Board of Directors in its meeting reviewed the company's routine financing and re-financing strategies, including any market maturities in due course. 

It has "granted enabling approvals for such re-financing vide debt instruments (as and when deemed appropriate) through issuance of secured/ unsecured, listed/unlisted non-convertible debt securities including debentures, bonds etc. upto Rs 7,500 crores (or in equivalent foreign currency) in one or more tranches from time to time...subject to all applicable regulatory/ statutory approvals," the company said. 

Airtel -- the second largest telecom operator in the lucrative Indian market -- further said its board has also authorised the Special Committee of Directors to decide (based on market conditions) on all matters related to such issuance of securities, including finalisation and approval of terms and conditions, quantum of tranche, and the timing.  Last month, the company had announced that Alphabet Inc's Google will pay USD 700 million (Rs 734 per share) for a 1.28 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel Ltd and the rest towards multi-year plans that will include devices. 

This will be the second such investment by Google, which had two years ago committed to investing USD 10 billion in India via its digitisation fund over 5 to 7 years through equity deals and tie-ups. It had in July 2020 invested USD 4.5 billion for a 7.73 per cent stake in billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms. 

The Indian telecom market has been keenly awaiting the rollout of 5G services. The government expects the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to give its recommendations on 5G spectrum by March this year. The spectrum auctions will be conducted in 2022 to facilitate the rollout of 5G mobile services within 2022-23 by private telecom providers. Earlier on Tuesday, TRAI conducted open house discussions on spectrum auction, marking the last phase of industry-wide deliberations, before it finalises views on crucial aspects such as pricing of radiowaves.