"A battle for the MTN Group, a leading South African telecommunications company, could come down to a clash between the world's largest and fastest-growing emerging markets," the report said, adding that Bharti is expected to face stiff competition from a Chinese rival.

The report further added that analysts and experts also do not rule out possible interest from Russia, though no bidders have yet emerged.

The report termed Johannesberg-based MTN as "highly prized" by virtue of its 70 million subscribers and presence in some of the world's fastest-growing telecom markets such as Nigeria and Iran.

"China and India have often been compared as the rest of the world adjusts to the presence of new economic powers, but rarely have representatives of the two nations competed head to head on a deal.

"China's government-controlled entities have invested and lent billions of dollars to African countries in recent years, while private companies in India have concentrated more on shopping outside the nations borders," it noted.

According to the report, Indian firms have executed larger number of "big deals," but in terms of value, Chinese companies have an upper hand. The report said that analysts expect MTN to attract Chinese firms like China Mobile or China Telecom, given the strong financial positions of the Chinese firms.