Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal plan Rs 365 bn war chest in telecom fight

Emails sent to Bharti and Jio spokesmen seeking details on use of funds went unanswered

Companies owned by billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal may raise as much as Rs 365 billion ($5.6 billion) selling bonds as the telecom titans build a war chest in what investors hope will be the home stretch in India’s bruising tariff war.

Mittal-controlled Bharti Airtel Ltd., which sold its first-ever rupee bond of Rs 30 billion last month, has approval to raise Rs 165 billion, according to a March 12 filing. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. announced days later that it plans to sell as much as Rs 200 billion of notes, marking the disruptive upstart’s return to the