India eyes to sell $10b stake in state-owned BSNL

India may sell about 10% of fully state-owned telecoms provider BSNL, the telecoms minister and a company official, quoted by a Reuters repot, said.

The Reuters reports said this could be one of India's largest ever IPOs.

BSNL is India's top ranked telecoms firm by subscriber numbers, but in mobile services lags Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone-controlled Vodafone Essar, the report said.

'It is being considered. We have to discuss that in the department,' Minister Andimuthu Raja was quoted by the Reuters report, as saying.

BSNL's director of finance said the company could sell 10% of the government's holding for $10 billion, the report said.

'We value the company at $100 billion,' S.D. Saxena said, adding the proposed issue could be hit the market in about a year's time.

Reliance Power is hoping to raise $3 billion in an initial public offer this week, which would be a record for India, the report said.

Analysts would not give a valuation for BSNL but said it has infrastructure and assets across India apart from offering fixed-line, mobile and long-distance telecoms services, the report further said.