Mumbai, March 19: Bharti Tele-Ventures is planning to raise funds either through a fresh issue of shares or through convertible debentures, including those that are issued in foreign currency.

The board will decide on the mode of raising funds on March 25, the company said.

Bharti plans to invest around $500-600 million in network expansion this year and had earlier announced that most of it would be funded through internal accruals.

The company recently entered into a deal to outsource part of its network maintenance and expansion work to telecom infrastructure major Ericsson

If Bharti decides to raise resources from overseas, it would follow the growing trend among Indian companies to raise funds through foreign currency convertible debentures.

The possibility of a dilution of equity sent the share down by Rs 6.50 to close at Rs 135.30.

Bharti had recently raised around $315 million from ABN Amro Bank at a 5.5 per cent interest rate.

Among the companies who have so far successfully raised foreign funds are Reliance Energy, Indian Hotels and ACC. Lining up to raise resources from abroad are companies like Zee Tele-Films, Tata Motors.

Indian companies are eyeing the FCCB market as they get better valuations from foreign investors, who continue to show a good appetite for Indian stocks.