Telecom giant Reliance Jio is in talks with lenders to fund the purchase of equipment as it steams ahead on the rollout of 5G services.

What Happened? Mukesh Ambani’s telco is reportedly in talks with banks including Citigroup, HSBC, and JPMorgan Chase to secure a loan of around $1.6 billion (₹13,128 crore) for purchasing equipment from Finland’s Nokia, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.

The loan, expected to have a maturity of up to 15 years, will likely be priced over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, according to the sources. Please note that the lineup of banks and the loan terms may still undergo changes as the deal is yet to be finalised.

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They added that Finnish export credit agency Finnvera was likely to issue guarantees covering the majority of the loan, providing additional support for the transaction between Reliance Jio and Nokia.

In October 2022, Nokia announced its agreement to supply Reliance Jio with equipment for the latter’s 5G rollout in India. Reliance Industries has been at the forefront of offering 5G services in the country after making billion-dollar investments to acquire the necessary airwaves.

It was previously reported that Reliance Industries was in talks to secure a massive loan of up to $2 billion (₹16,395.10 crore) from foreign lenders to supercharge the conglomerate's expansion plans.

After a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tesla chief Elon Musk expressed his keenness to launch Starlink in India but the firm favours licenses for spectrum over the country’s current system of auctioning airwaves. However, Ambani’s Reliance strongly favours auctions, as per public submissions.

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