| Bharti Telecom Limited | ||||||||||||
| 'Crisil AAA/Stable' assigned to Non Convertible Debentures | ||||||||||||
| Rating Action | ||||||||||||
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| Note: None of the Directors on Crisil Ratings Limited’s Board are members of rating committee and thus do not participate in discussion or assignment of any ratings. The Board of Directors also does not discuss any ratings at its meetings. | ||||||||||||
| 1 crore = 10 million | ||||||||||||
| Refer to Annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities |
Detailed Rationale
BTL is a key holding company of Bharti Airtel Ltd (BAL; ‘Crisil AAA/Stable/Crisil A1+’) with 40.47% stake as on September 30, 2025. While the rated limits for the NCDs have increased, Crisil Ratings notes that the proposed NCDs will be utilized towards refinancing existing debt, hence overall debt levels are expected to remain stable. Outstanding debt in BTL as on July 14, 2025, was ~Rs 40,490 crore.
The ratings also factor in the expected dividends from BAL, which should be sufficient to meet the annual interest obligation of BTL. Bulk of the interest payments are structured annually and due in the third quarter of the fiscal, while the annual final dividend by BAL is usually declared during the first half of the fiscal, thereby enhancing the cash flow availability for interest payments. While BTL is exposed to refinancing risk as there are significant repayments due in the current fiscal, however, the company access to capital markets for funding and has an established track record of refinancing the debt at competitive rates. These strengths are partially offset by exposure to market risk. |
Analytical Approach Crisil Ratings has followed the holding company approach to analyse the credit risk profile of BTL. Net debt of BTL, BEHPL and Bharti Enterprises Ltd (BEL; ‘Crisil AA+/Stable/Crisil A1+’] have been combined to arrive at the market value to debt cover. |
Key Rating Drivers - Strengths Strong market value to debt cover: The direct holding of BTL in BAL is worth around Rs 4.69 lakh crore as on October 8, 2025. BTL is the largest shareholder in BAL, with 40.47% stake as on September 30, 2025. BAL has healthy business and financial risk profiles, supported by its strong market position in the Indian telecom industry, diversified operations in non-mobile segments in India, and mobility and other businesses in Africa. The company’s shareholding in BAL is entirely unencumbered.
BEHPL, BEL and BTL together have gross debt of around Rs 40,490 crore as on July 14, 2025, signifying a strong cover in line with the healthy cover maintained in the past. Crisil Ratings expects the company to maintain financial flexibility and strong cover through the tenure of the rated debt.
Robust financial flexibility: Financial flexibility is driven by healthy reputation of the promoters. The Bharti group has an established management track record, while Singtel is a Singapore-based telecom company with over 800 million mobile customers across 21 countries as of March 2025. |
Key Rating Drivers - Weaknesses Exposure to market risk: Financial flexibility, in terms of available cover, depends on the prevailing market sentiment and share price of BAL. Increase in systemic risk or sharp decline in share price of BAL are rating sensitivity factors. |
Liquidity: Superior BTL received a dividend (gross of taxes) of around Rs 1,800 crore in fiscal 2025 and ~Rs 3800 crore in FY 26 till date. BTL will continue to depend on dividend income, monetisation of investments, infusion of funds by the promoters or debt refinancing. The company also has strong access to the capital markets. It enjoys healthy financial flexibility because of its shareholding in BAL, which is valued at over Rs 4.69 lakh crore as on October 8, 2025. BTL also benefits from its strong promoters, the Bharti group and Singtel. |
Outlook: Stable BTL will continue to benefit from the strong financial flexibility it derives from its holding in BAL and its robust debt cover. |
Rating Sensitivity Factors Downward factors:
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About the Company Jointly promoted by the Bharti group and Singtel, BTL is a key shareholder in BAL. BEHPL and the Singtel group hold 50.56% and 49.44%, respectively, in BTL currently.
About BEHPL BEHPL, promoted by the Bharti Mittal family, is a key holding company of the Bharti group, which has interests in diverse businesses such as telecom and financial services.
About BEL BEL, promoted by BEHPL, is a key holding company of the Bharti group, which has interests in diverse businesses.
About BAL Headquartered in India, BAL is a global communications solutions provider with ~59 crore customers in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa as on March 31, 2025. The company ranks among the top three mobile operators globally and its networks cover over two billion people. Airtel is the largest integrated communications solutions provider in India and the second-largest mobile operator in Africa. Airtel's retail portfolio includes high speed 4G/5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber with convergence across linear and on-demand entertainment, streaming services spanning music and video, digital payments and financial services. For enterprise customers, Airtel offers a gamut of solutions that include secure connectivity, cloud and data centre services, cyber security, Internet of Things, ad tech and cloud-based communication. The company had 36.1 crore mobile subscribers in India and ~17 crore in Africa as on March 31, 2025. |
Key financial indicators (standalone)
NM: not meaningful because reported numbers are negative |
Any other information: Not Applicable |
Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument: |
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
# Yet to be issued |
| Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Criteria Details
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