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Bharti Telecom Ltd., owned by Sunil Bharti Mittal, is planning to raise as much as 80 billion rupees ($961 million) in the local-currency bond market, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company is seeking bids for notes due in two-, three- and five years on Friday, the people said, adding bonds have a coupon in 8.90% to 9% band. If the deal goes through, it will be Bharti Telecom’s largest ever rupee issuance, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Bharti Telecom is tapping the market at a time when its unit, which is India’s second-largest wireless carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd., is rolling out 5G services across the country as it takes on its rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

Axis Bank Ltd. and Barclays Plc are arranging the deal, the people said, who asked not to be identified as the details are private. The issuance is also the Bharti’s first in the onshore market in almost a year. It raised 32 billion rupees through three-year notes in December last year.

--With assistance from P R Sanjai.

(Adds issuance details in second, final paragraph)

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Author: Divya Patil