Bharti Airtel gains over 1 per cent in afternoon trade

MUMBAI: Telecom major Bharti Airtel rose 1.22 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange amid looming uncertainty over its proposed deal with the

South African entity MTN, for which the exclusive discussions period is ending today.

Shares of Airtel climbed 1.22 per cent to Rs 424 on BSE and on the National Stock Exchange the scrip made a decent gain of 1.10 per cent to touch a high of Rs 423.75.

On the volume front, over 17.95 lakh shares of Airtel changed their hands on the two bourses.

Even though the exclusive talks period between the two companies ends today, a clear picture is yet to emerge on the proposed deal, which would create a combined entity having over 200 million subscribers.

Meanwhile, the government yesterday said it has a positive approach toward the proposed USD 23-billion deal between Bharti and South African MTN, even as the time for exclusive talks between the two companies ends on September 30.