Google likely to invest in Bharti Airtel

After investing thousands of crores in Reliance Jio, Alphabet inc. subsidiary Google is in talks with Bharti Airtel to make ‘substantial investments’.

The negotiations have been going on, between the top executives from both of the companies, for almost one year and there are chances of a ‘large deal’ happening, a leading media house said.

The deal is of utmost importance to Sunil Mittal, Founder and Chairperson, Bharti Enterprises. After Mukesh Ambani’s entry into the Telecom sector, the voice and data rates have been disrupted. Jio is offering free voice calling and data at very low prices. Older players find these rates uncompetitive. This even led to the merger of Vodafone and Idea too.

The debt on Airtel amounts to Rs 1.6 lakh crore. The board is expected to meet on Sunday to plan the fundraising options.

"Google's entry could turn Airtel's balance sheet around, as well as providing strategic assistance with its expertise on data analytics," an analyst told a leading media house.

Google has various options including data monetisation that can help Airtel to keep its head above the water.

According to experts, to save its credibility, Google will have to take care of the dues of Airtel, if something goes wrong.