Some good news for India Incs as AIRTEL Secures USD 2.5 Billion Chinese Financial deal in return! Excalibur Stevens Biswas

Some good news for India Incs as AIRTEL Secures USD 2.5 Billion Chinese Financial deal in return!

Excalibur Stevens Biswas

PM Modi at the India-China Business Forum in China's financial hub after interacting with 22 CEOs of top Chinese companies on Saturday. (Source: PIB)

Some good news for India Incs as AIRTEL Secures USD 2.5 Billion Chinese Financial deal in return!

Mind you,Prime Minister Modi has signed no less than twenty four agreements with China to ensure making in China and handed over key sectors to Chinese companies.At least,the Telecome major has got something in return for which India Incs might celebrate the milestone episode to replicate Nehru in yet another Himalayan Blunder.

Thus,Airtel has received financing commitments of up to USD 2.5 billion from China Development Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In Shanghai: Making a strong pitch for Chinese CEOs to invest in India and promising a business-friendly environment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday listed out the steps taken by his government and invited them to participate in his 'Make in India' campaign.

Addressing India-China Business forum in Shanghai, Modi said, "Now India is ready for business. India and China have potential of growth and problem solving. I am personally committed to take co-operative process forward."

Wooing Chinese companies CEOs, he said, "Once you decide to be in India, we are committed to making you more and more comfortable. You are the factory of the world. We are the back office of the world. Together we can bring about progress and prosperity for our people."

Mind you,reaching out to Chinese investors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked them to take advantage of the “winds of change” in India with a much more transparent, responsive and stable regulatory regime even as leading firms from the two sides signed deals worth USD 22 billion.

“This is a historic opportunity for Chinese companies,” Modi said addressing the India-China Business Forum in China’s financial hub after interacting with 22 CEOs of top Chinese companies, including Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma.

We have committed ourselves for creating and improving the business environment. I can assure you that once you decide to be in India, we are confident to make you more and more comfortable,” the Prime Minister said.

Bharti Airtel on Saturday said it has received financing commitments of up to USD 2.5 billion from China Development Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, with an average maturity of about nine years.

The company signed the term sheets for the financing options in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently on an official visit to China.

Airtel said the funds will help the company further diversify its global financing pool and invest in growth of data networks.

“China Development Bank has committed financing of up to USD 2 billion with an average maturity of about nine years,” Airtel said.

This is the “single largest bilateral commitment by China Development Bank to any telecom operator globally and the largest bilateral commitment to a private Indian company”.

“Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has committed USD 500 million with an average life of about nine years,” Airtel added.

Subject to final agreements and requisite approvals, Bharti Airtel can draw these funds over a long availability period, depending on its financing requirements.

Rajan Bharti Mittal, Vice-Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, said, “We are pleased to sign these agreements as part of the growing economic cooperation between India and China. It is an endorsement of the long-term potential of the Indian telecom sector. Given the availability period of three years, these financings shall further add to the financial flexibility that the Company already has.”

In March 2015, Bharti Airtel announced a strategic collaboration with China Mobile, under which the two companies will work towards growth of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) ecosystem and evolving mobile technology standards.

Bharti Airtel also has network equipment sourcing agreements with ZTE and Huawei.

“India is ready for business. You must be sensing the winds of change in India. I only advise you to come and feel the same,” he told business leaders from both countries.

The Prime Minister said as two major economies in Asia, “harmonious partnership” between India and China was essential for economic development and “political stability” of the continent.

“You are the ‘factory of the world’. Whereas, we are the ‘Back office of the world’. You give thrust on production of hardware, while India focusses on software and services,” he said.

Earlier, he met CEOs of 22 top Chinese companies including Alibaba, China Light and Power, Xiaomi, Huawei and Trina Solar on the last leg of his three-day visit to China.

The Prime Minister assured Chinese businessmen that India’s economic environment has changed.

“Our regulatory regime is much more transparent, responsive and stable. We are taking a long-term and futuristic view on the issues,” he said.

He said a lot of efforts have been made and were still underway to improve the ‘ease of doing business’.

Noting that both countries have potentials of growth and problems of poverty which they can tackle together, he said, “I am personally committed to take the cooperative process forward. That is why even as Chief Minister of Gujarat, I visited China. As Prime Minister too, I am convinced and committed for exchange and co-operation for socio-economic development of the two countries.”

Modi said he has a lot of hope from the relationship which he and President Xi Jinping are trying to build.

The prime minister was also accompanied by a contingent of Indian industrialists and bankers.

While India emphasised that this was “a reflection of the strong interest of Chinese companies to invest in India,” the fact remains that many of these agreements are largely an expression of intent and it will take some time—and significant groundwork—before they translate into actual investments.

And the big winner in the deal jamboree—10 were specified as memoranda of understanding (MoUs), while the rest were partnerships—was India’s power sector.

Of the agreements signed, the maximum were between companies in the power sector, with a total of eight deals. The agreements, if and when they materialise, will bode well for India’s ailing power sector, where companies are struggling with huge losses, poor infrastructure and limited finance.

Here’s the sector-wise break-up of the deals:

ShareTap image to zoom