Indian telecom firm Bharti Airtel to invest $2.2 billion to expand digital lending

Bharti Airtel on Monday (February 23, 2026) said it will invest ₹200 billion in its financial arm over the next few years, India’s second-largest mobile carrier by number of users, as the telco steps up its push into digital lending. 

The capital will be infused into its subsidiary, Airtel Money, which received a non-banking financial company (NBFC) licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on February 13. 

Bharti’s expansion comes as competition intensifies in India’s non-bank lending sector, where conglomerates such as Jio Financial Services and established players like Bajaj Finance are scaling up retail credit operations. 

The move strengthens Airtel’s financial services business as it diversifies beyond telecom into areas such as data centres, cloud and enterprise services.

The telecom major will contribute 70% of the ₹200 billion capital, with key shareholder Bharti Enterprises providing the remaining, Bharti Airtel said.

The move “will leverage the large Airtel customer ⁠baseto build the next growth ⁠engine for the company and furtherdiversify its portfolio,” ‌it added.