Telecom major Bharti Airtel declared that Google is investing over $1 billion in a multi-year agreement to drive India’s digital ecosystem. The telecom company said in a regulatory filing, “As part of this partnership, Google plans to invest up to $1 billion in the next five years. The deal includes an investment of $700 million to acquire 1.28 per cent ownership in Airtel at a per-share price of Rs 734 and over $300 million towards multi-year commercial agreements.”

• Overnight Stock Market Movements: Key Developments 
• Stocks Under F&O Ban: Bandhan Bank, and Others
• India, Canada Hold Talks to Resume Trade Pact Negotiations
• Subros Shares Trade Positive on Securing Rs 52 Crore Order 
• Government Drops Mandatory Sanchar Saathi Pre-Installation Rule

“Our partnership will focus on promoting affordable smartphones and building their existing partnerships to create India-specific network domain use cases for 5G and hasten the cloud ecosystem for businesses in India,” Airtel said. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel, said, “Airtel and Google share the vision to expand India’s digital ecosystem via innovative products. With our future-ready network, digital platforms, and payments ecosystem, we look forward to working closely with Google to increase the depth and breadth of India’s digital ecosystem.”