- Tata Group paid lenders and the government about₹50,000 crore ($7.3 billion) to help complete the sale of its mobile-phone services business to Bharti Airtel Ltd.
- Tata Sons Pvt., the group holding company, paid the Department of Telecommunications ₹10,000 crore late last month.
Indian conglomerate Tata Group paid lenders and the government about₹50,000 crore ($7.3 billion) to help complete the sale of its mobile-phone services business to Bharti Airtel Ltd., a deal that was announced almost two years ago.
Tata Sons Pvt., the group holding company, paid the Department of Telecommunications ₹10,000 crore late last month, days after settling all pending loans worth ₹40,000 crore owed by unit Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd., the Mumbai-based group said.
Jio is a big reason behind the deal
Sale of Tata’s phone business was a part of an industry strengthening started by the entry of Jio Infocomm by billionaire Mukesh Ambani in 2016. The new player with deep pockets stormed in the market with free calls and cheap data, forcing many of the dormant telecom operators who were struggling to exit or merge to settle the debts.
Tata Telecom Wing Closes
Tata, the salt-to-software conglomerate, agreed in October 2017 to dispose of the unprofitable businesses under Tata Teleservices Ltd. and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) and merge them with billionaire Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, which is now the nation’s second-biggest carrier. The deal was termed as a “debt-free, cash-free” transaction.
Besides Bharti and Jio, the other non-state carrier still standing is Vodafone Idea Ltd., which was the result of a merger between Vodafone Group Plc’s local unit with tycoon Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Idea Cellular Ltd.
With Jio taking over the telecom market and establishing its monopoly. Another old horse bites the dust.
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