70 percent of the $13 billion investment by Bharti will be for expansion of its domestic telecom operations

Of the $13 billion planned investment by the Bharti Group, 70 percent will be for expansion of its domestic telecom operations over the next five years. Among other ventures, it has launched a fixed wireless GSM-based service, which offers local calls at fixed line telephone charges of Re 0.40 per minute and STD calls at Rs 2.40 per minute. The company plans to progressively roll out the new wireless service across 4,000 towns and villages in India. On the international front, however, the company has put its expansion plans on hold until there is a correction in the world market.

Instead, it plans to invest $1.5-2 billion each year in its Indian operations. The majority of the investment will be financed by internal cash generation.