Bharti reduces stake in DTH venture
By Our Corporate Bureau | 03 May 2007
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel has reduced its share in its wholly owned DTH venture, Bharti Telemedia Ltd, to 40 per cent in order to comply with the guidelines on FDI in the DTH sector. Total foreign equity holding in DTH company including FDI, NRIs and financial institutions cannot exceed 49 per cent and within the foreign equity, the FDI component should not exceed 20 per cent.
As Bharti Airtel has an FDI component of 48 per cent, it cannot hold the entire stake in Bharti Telemedia and a Bharti group company will hold the balance 60 per cent. This will keep the FDI level in Bharti Telemedia under the permitted 20 per cent.
Bharti has applied for a DTH licence and compliance to the FDI norms is necessary before the Government can clear its application. Bharti's DTH venture is expected to roll out by the end of this calendar year. It was initially planned to keep the venture under Bharti Airtel, the telecom business of the Bharti Group, to leverage synergy with broadband services.
