Bharti Airtel to infuse ₹20,000 cr in Airtel Money to push digital lending
Bharti Airtel and promoter group to contribute 70:30 into NBFC
 "Bharti Airtel to infuse ₹20,000 cr in Airtel Money to push digital lending")
India’s second-largest telecom company Bharti Airtel, along with its parent Bharti Enterprises, will invest Rs 20,000 crore into the telco’s non-banking financial company (NBFC) subsidiary Airtel Money over the coming years. In a statement on Monday, the Sunil Mittal-promoted group said that Airtel will contribute 70 per cent of the investment, while the promoter group through holding company Bharti Enterprises will contribute the balance.
The investment follows Airtel Money receiving the Certificate of Registration from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Type II, non-deposit accepting NBFC on February 13. Airtel will leverage its 369 million-plus mobile phone user base, technology, data, and customer understanding at scale to build the lending business into a diversified asset within its portfolio of companies.
“Our NBFC expansion strengthens this foundation and reflects our ambition to build a differentiated, future-ready digital lending business — one that stands for trust, innovation, and financial inclusion,” said Gopal Vittal, executive vice chairman, Bharti Airtel.
The company has disbursed over Rs 9,000 crore through its lending service platform (LSP) over the past two years, which it now plans to scale further on the back of strong digital assets, a large data and analytics engine powered by over 500 data scientists, and deep operational expertise. The platform has delivered what Airtel terms as best-in-class delinquency outcomes based on underwriting models and real-time risk monitoring.
“The success of our LSP over the past two years is proof of our ability to combine technology, data, and customer trust to deliver impact at a national scale. We have built one of India’s most trusted and scalable digital credit engines — reaching millions with high-quality credit supported by industry-best performance metrics,” Vittal added.
Disbursement by the NBFC will be seamlessly integrated with the LSP platform, while maintaining clear operational segregation between the two, the company added. To be sure, Bharti group which also has a payments bank - Airtel Payments Bank - cannot extend loans since the RBI regulations don't permit it to. However, with Airtel Money as an NBFC they can now extend loans.
This expansion is strategic to the group as it aims to address the credit gap, push digital financial inclusion, and address potentially underserved customers in the country. India’s formal credit-to-GDP ratio stands at 53 per cent, as per Care Edge Ratings, which indicates the room for more lending amid fast-paced growth being seen in the financial services sector.