Airtel shares climb nearly 5% on fund raising plans

Shares of Bharti Airtel today rose nearly 5 per cent after the company received approval from the board to raise up to Rs 16,500 crore for refinancing debt and paying for spectrum liabilities.
The stock jumped 4.68 per cent to end at Rs 420.75 on BSE. During the day, it soared 5.68 per cent to Rs 424.80.
At NSE, shares of the company climbed 4.82 per cent to close at Rs 421.55.
The stock was the biggest gainer among the blue-chips on both Sensex and Nifty.
The company's market valuation went up by Rs 7,515.61 crore to Rs 1,68,190.61 crore.

In terms of equity volume, 7.27 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 75 lakh shares changed hands at NSE during the day.

The board approved "issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of up to Rs 10,000 crore on a private placement basis" and "issuance of foreign currency bonds up to a limit of USD 1 billion or equivalent in one or more tranches", Airtel said in a regulatory filing.
The NCDs of up to Rs 10,000 crore can be raised in tranches or a series at rates approved from time to time.
"Any funds if raised from the issuance of aforesaid debt securities shall be used for routine treasury activities including refinancing of existing debt and spectrum liabilities," the filing said.