Bharti raises Rs 8,800 cr for 3G spectrum

Gets funds from HDFC, HDFC Bank, SBI and IDFC Securities.

Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s largest mobile phone operator, raised Rs 8,800 crore ($1.9 billion) from a six-year syndicated loan to pay for third-generation (3G) spectrum, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The loan, arranged by a group of four banks, will help New Delhi-based Bharti pay licence fee to the government and buy network equipment. The company won the licences in an auction that ended on May 19.

The four lenders are Housing Development Finance Corp, India’s biggest mortgage lender, HDFC Bank Ltd, the country’s third-largest, State Bank of India, the nation’s largest, and IDFC Securities Ltd. The loan is benchmarked to the prime lending rate of Infrastructure Development Finance Corp, Housing Development Corporation of India and the State Bank of India’s State Bank Advance Rate.

State Bank of India and IDFC Securities are mandated arrangers to the issue, the data shows.

Bharti bid Rs 12,300 crore for licences to operate 3G services in 13 telecommunications zones of the country.