Bharti Airtel to invest Rs 2,500 crore in Gujarat

Company to enter Africa, West Asian countries.

After investing around Rs 1,000 crore last year, Bharti Enterprises will now invest Rs 2,500 crore in Gujarat during fiscal 2007-08.

Attending the third convocation of Nirma University as the chief guest at Ahmedabad, Bharti Enterprises' Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Mittal announced that the company would be investing Rs 2,500 crore in Gujarat during fiscal 2007-08.

Airtel, Mittal added, is almost ready for the revolutionary 3G services in the telecom sector and only "the spectrum licence is awaited". Mittal also added that the company is planning to broaden its services to overseas circles and plans to begin its telecom services in African and West Asian countries.

"We got the licence recently to provide telecom services in Sri Lanka and Seychelles, and we will soon approach countries in Africa and Wet Asia, like Saudi Arabia too," Mittal said.

Meanwhile, Airtel is also planning to expand its broadband services through fixed fibre optic lines and plans to offer WiMAX internet services as well.

With unconfirmed reports about Bharti Enterprises' Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Mittal's resignation in the air, Mittal denied that any such plans were being made in the near future. Mittal, instead, announced that he would be discharging some of his duties to the company's chief executive officer.

"No, I have no plans to resign in the near future but I will be discharging some of my duties to the CEO," said Mittal.

Bharti Enterprises recently joined hands with French insurance major AXA SA for mutual funds and non-life insurance services in the country, stated Mittal. The company is also expecting a licence from the government to begin its direct-to-home services in near future.

On Bharti-Wal Mart retail venture, however, Mittal said, "The work is on for Bharti-Wal Mart."