24 Feb , 2026 By : Debdeep Gupta
The stock movement comes a day after Airtel said it would capitalise its NBFC arm, Airtel Money Limited, with up to Rs 20,000 crore over the next few years following the receipt of an NBFC licence from the Reserve Bank of India earlier this month
Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd fell more than 3 percent in morning trade on Tuesday, February 24, making the stock one of the top losers on the Nifty 50, as investors assessed the implications of the company’s announced foray into non-banking financial services.
Bharti Airtel stock was trading at Rs 1,933.7 around 10 am, down 3.2 percent on the day. Despite the decline, the stock remains up about 21 percent over the past one year, outperforming the Nifty 50, which has gained about 13.5 percent during the same period. Airtel’s market capitalisation stood at roughly Rs 11.64 lakh crore.
The weakness in the stock comes a day after Airtel announced plans to capitalise its NBFC arm, Airtel Money Limited, with up to Rs 20,000 crore over the next few years, following the receipt of an NBFC licence from the Reserve Bank of India on February 13. The company said it will hold a 70 percent stake in the NBFC, while promoter group Bharti Enterprises will own the remaining 30 percent.
Speaking on CNBC-TV18, Gaurav Malhotra, Executive Director at Axis Capital, said the proposed Rs 20,000 crore capital infusion could be leveraged to build an assets under management base of around Rs 1 lakh crore for Airtel Money. He said credit product offerings will be a key monitorable for the new business, adding that Airtel’s large customer base provides a ready platform to scale the NBFC operations.
Airtel has said its lending service provider platform has already disbursed more than Rs 9,000 crore over the past two years, backed by underwriting models and real-time risk monitoring systems. The company has indicated that the NBFC’s lending operations will be integrated with its existing digital platform, while maintaining operational segregation.
Earlier on Monday, ahead of the announcement, Bharti Airtel shares had ended 0.99 percent higher at Rs 1,997 on the NSE.
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