Bharti Airtel, the single largest mobile operator in India, has said that it will be raising Rs. 8,500 crore for 3G spectrum.

The money will be raised with the help of a financial consortium which will include big names in the finance sector.

This also has State Bank of Bank (SBI), which is said to give Rs. 20,000 crore to the companies which are engaged in the spectrum sale.

As per the sources, HDFC and HDFC Bank have also agreed to finance the amount that Bharti needs to pay to the government for the 3G spectrum that it has bought. The deadline for paying the money is May 31.

Bharti was able to win the auction in 13 circles and has to pay Rs. 12,295 crore for it. The circles that it has also include Delhi and Mumbai.

Sources also say that the loan will be for six-year period and an interest payment of 8-9 per cent needs to be done,.

However, no clarity on the amount that the institutions will be paying was revealed. Bharti Airtel also refused to comment on the issue.