Bharti Airtel is planning to raise funds of $500 million-$1 billion (Rs 32 billion-Rs 64 billion) through external commercial borrowings. These funds will likely be used for spectrum payments, meeting capital expenditure for network expansion and reducing debt. The transaction will reportedly involve few foreign lenders including two European banks.

Earlier in June 2015, Airtel had raised $1 billion by selling bonds to global investors. The company raised about $4 billion through bonds in the past two years. The company is planning capex of $2.3 billion in India and South Asia in 2015-16, a sizeable share of which would go towards 4G and 3G rollouts. Meanwhile, it plans to spend an additional $700 million towards capex in Africa.