Bharti Airtel down 1% on telecom ministry Rs 350cr fine

Bharti Airtel , the largest telecom operator in India, fell over a percent intraday on Tuesday, after the Telecom Minister approved Rs 350 crore penalty on the company.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal is learnt to have approved the recommendation of a Department of Telecom committee to impose Rs 50 crore penalty each on seven licences of Bharti Airtel that entered into 3G roaming agreements with other operators to offer services beyond permitted zones.

Sources said the committee held that the "breach" of 3G provisions by seven licences of Bharti Airtel does not attract maximum penalty which is termination of the licences but recommended "imposition of maximum financial penalty permitted under licence conditions ie Rs 50 crore against each licence". The Minister approved the recommendation on February 27, the sources said.

Bharti Airtel raised USD 1 billion through a bond sale in the overseas market on Monday, merchant bankers said. The 10-year unsecured bonds have a coupon of 5.125 percent per annum and were launched by Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the telecom firm, Jujhar Singh, MD, capital markets at StanChart India, told PTI over phone from Singapore.
 
At 10:11 hours IST, shares declined 0.8 percent to Rs 313 on Bombay Stock Exchange.