Reliance Jio seeks up to $2 billion loan to fund 5G plan: report

Jio Infocomm in talks to raise $2B in offshore loans to fund 5G network gear purchase from Ericsson. BNP Paribas to provide $1.9B-$2B over nine-month period. Loan deal includes repayment to Ericsson, BNP and other entities. Funds raised through discounted process with implicit interest rate over nine-month period. Jio had tied up with EKN for $2.2B to finance 5G gear and services. Loan talks to help finance 5G rollout, incl. $1.7B deal with Nokia.

Jio Infocomm, the telecom wing of Reliance Industries, is in talks to raise up to $2 billion in offshore loans, with BNP Paribas acting as lead arranger, to fund the purchase of 5G network gear from Ericsson, the Economic Times reported on Monday.

BNP Paribas will provide $1.9 billion-$2 billion over a nine-month period, during which the telecom company, led by Mukesh Ambani, will pay back Ericsson, BNP and some other banks, the newspaper said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The report neither mentioned the individual amounts that Jio will pay back to Ericsson, BNP and other entities in the loan deal nor clarified whether BNP was acting on behalf of a consortium.

The fundraise is through a discounted process, and the implicit interest rate will be arrived at over the nine-month period, the report said.

BNP Paribas and Jio Infocomm did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Swedish telecommunications firm Ericsson, in October last year said that its 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) products and solutions will be deployed in Jio's 5G rollout in India.

Jio had tied up with Swedish export credit agency EKN for a $2.2 billion funding to finance the equipment and services for the 5G plan, the Indian conglomerate said in its latest annual report.