Feb 23 (Reuters) – Bharti Airtel will invest 200 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) in its financial arm over the next few years, India’s second-biggest mobile operator by users said on Monday, as it steps up its push into digital lending.
The capital will be infused into its subsidiary, Airtel Money, which received a “non-banking financial company (NBFC)” license from the Reserve Bank of India on February 13.
Airtel’s expansion comes as competition intensifies in India’s non-bank lending sector, where conglomerates such as Jio Financial Services and established players such as Bajaj Finance are expanding retail credit operations.
The move strengthens Airtel’s financial services business as it diversifies beyond telecom into areas such as data centres, cloud and enterprise services.
The telecom major will contribute 70% of the Rs 200 billion equity, and key shareholder Bharti Enterprises will contribute the rest, Airtel said in a press release.
The move will “leverage Airtel’s large customer base to build the company’s next growth engine and further diversify its portfolio,” he added.
($1 = 90.8850 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Eileen Soreng)