MUMBAI (NewsRise) -- Indian mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel aims to raise $3 billion to pay the money owed to the government and bolster its balance sheet, even as competition from billionaire Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance Jio Infocomm shows no signs of abating.
Bharti, about a third owned by Southeast Asia's biggest wireless carrier Singapore Telecommunications, Wednesday said it plans to raise $2 billion via qualified institutional placements and $1 billion through bonds. The fundraising plan comes after the company raised about $4.6 billion in March. The debt-ridden carrier, along with larger rival Vodafone Idea, is scrambling to cough up funds after India's Supreme Court upheld the telecom department's demand for $13 billion in dues from operators.
