Aircel plans $ 5 bn investment in 3 yrs

India's fifth largest GSM mobile service provider by subscribers Aircel said it would invest additional $5 billion in the domestic market for growth and expansions over the next three years.

India's fifth largest GSM mobile service provider by subscribers Aircel on Thursday said it would invest additional $5 billion in the domestic market for growth and expansions over the next three years.

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"We have either invested or committed $5 billion in the Indian market so far. We will invest another $five billion over the next three years for expansions and growth," Aircel's Chief Operating Officer Gurdeep Singh said in Mumbai while launching the service in Mumbai.

The company had last month launched its Delhi operations. Aircel forayed into the fast-growing Indian mobile telephony market in 1999. Malaysia's Maxis Communications holds 74 per cent stake in the venture, while the Apollo Hospitals Enterprises holds the remaining 26 per cent stake.

Singh said the company would primarily fund the proposed investment from its internal accruals and bank finances.

"This will be funded mainly from the internal accruals and bank finances. We are sufficiently-funded and not looking for an IPO now," he said.

Of the total 23 telecom circles in India, Aircel has presence in 17, including Mumbai, and plans to roll out in the remaining circles in the next six to nine months for which it has received licences.

Early next month, it would launch services in Goa.