Indian towers to tap offshore market?

Published on 12.01.2012

Tower deals may get easier to finance in India if the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) succeeds in allowing the sector to tap external commercial borrowings. According to Livemint, DoT officials are lobbying the finance ministry to grant tower companies similar financing access to other infrastructure operators. Ironically, telecom operators are also able to tap ECB, and many used this avenue to finance 3G bids. The Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) has asked that ECB facilities be extended to tower companies for repayment and early payment of rupee-related project or term loans, mergers and acquisitions of domestic tower and infrastructure companies, and for guarantees by foreign banks supporting domestic loans.