Bharti-Zain deal to add punch to India growth story: India Inc

A new dimension will be added to the India's growth story by Bharti Airtel's acquisition of Kuwait's Zain Telecom, besides enhancing the country's brand equity, India Inc said on Wednesday. Stating that the deal will enhance India's brand equity, FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra said: "This is the first time when an Indian telecom firm has gone ahead and acquired a global major."

This move by the Bharti group will enhance India's brand equity and add a new dimension to the India growth story, he said, adding it will also prove to be a milestone in the country's economic relations with Africa and further deepen the economic engagement between the two sides.

Expressing similar sentiments, CII President Venu Srinivasan termed the event as "one more step for India in overseas markets". "We are very proud of this deal," Srinivasan said, adding Bharti would now inspire other Indian firms to go for such big overseas deals.

Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said the deal is a major step towards globalisation of Indian firms. PHDCCI Additional Secretary General S K Kapur Bharti will encourage other Indian companies to look beyond the country's border.

Bharti Airtel signed the deal on Tuesday to acquire the African operations of Zain Telecom for a staggering $10.7 billion (about Rs 48,000 crore) at Zain Africa's headquarters in Amsterdam. The deal make Bharti the world's fifth largest firm by user base.