Bharti Airtel Ltd is reportedly expecting to pocket $250-300 million (up to Rs 1,650 crore) by offloading a 20-25 per cent stake in its satellite TV or direct-to-home (DTH) business.

Sources also said that the stake sale would value the company at around $1.2 billion.

However, the third biggest DTH operator in India declined to comment on the report, terming it just a "market speculation."

A number of potential investors, including United States-based Liberty Global Inc, are said to be in talks with Bharti Airtel for the stake deal.

Last year, the government hiked the foreign direct investment limit in DTH services and digital cable companies to 74 per cent.

DTH television broadcast services have been becoming more and more popular in India, thanks to growing spending power of people in the country. Speaking on the topic, an analyst said, "The industry has grown in the first phase of digitization, which is a good sign for DTH and it will be in stronger position going forward."

However, DTH TV services account for merely 3 per cent of Bharti Airtel's total revenue. In the quarter through December 31, Bharti Airtel's DTH TV services generated Rs 428 crore in revenues and Rs 182 crore in earnings before interest & taxes.

Bharti Airtel's DTH service has around 8 million customers in the country, which ranks at third spot on the list of the country's largest DTH operators, after Zee's Dish TV and Tata Sky.