Bharti Airtel to raise funds upto $3 billion, gets its board's nod

The Board of Directors of Bharti Airtel Ltd has given its nod to the telecom operator’s proposal to raise up to $3 billion (around ₹21,500 crore) through a mix of equity and debt.

According to a regulatory filing, the company will raise $2 billion through one or more instruments such as a qualified institutional placement, compulsory convertible debentures or other convertible securities, American depositary receipts (ADR) and global depositary receipts (GDR). It will also raise up to $1 billion by issuing foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs), and similar security in a foreign currency, or through redeemable non-convertible debentures, the telecom operator said.

The funds raised will be utilized to pay the company’s estimated dues of ₹35,586 crore to the department of telecommunications (DoT).

The total quantum of funds to be raised would not exceed $3 billion for now, according to Bharti Airtel.

The fundraising plan follows the 24 October order of the Supreme Court (SC) in the 14-year-long dispute over the definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) between the DoT and telecom firms. The SC asked the firms to pay the dues within three months.

Airtel and Vodafone Idea have filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking review of the 24 October order. The government meanwhile is not considering a waiver of penalties and interest on outstanding licence fee dues based on AGR, or an extension of the payment deadline.

According to a PTI report, Bharti Airtel owes ₹21,682 crore in licence fee dues and another ₹13,904.01 crore as spectrum usage charges. This, however, does not include the dues of Telenor and Tata Teleservices, which were acquired by Airtel.

Bharti Airtel has posted a massive ₹23,045 crore loss in the quarter ended September. It had posted a net profit of ₹118 crore in the year-ago period.