Shares of Bharti Airtel , India's top telecom network operator, rose up to 8 per cent on Friday, a day after it announced the acquisition of the Tata conglomerate's consumer mobile business almost free of charge.

The “debt-free (and) cash-free” deal with Tata Teleservices will boost Bharti Airtel's subscriber base by over 40 million, and increase its airwaves in India.

The stock soared 7.89 per cent to settle at Rs 431.60 on the BSE. During the day, it zoomed 8.98 per cent to Rs 436. On the NSE, shares of the company surged 7.65 per cent to end at Rs 430.90.

Strong gains in the stock price boosted the company’s market valuation by Rs 12,612.79 crore to Rs 1,72,527.79 crore. The stock was the biggest gainer among blue-chips on both the key indices during the day.

Shares of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML) advanced by 9.95 per cent to Rs 4.86 — its highest trading permissible limit for the day — on the BSE. On the NSE, it climbed 9 per cent to Rs 4.80.

Ending a 20-year-old saga of poor decisions and mounting losses, Tata Teleservices on Thursday had said it will merge its consumer mobile businesses with Bharti Airtel in a cashless deal.

The deal consolidates Airtel’s standing as the country’s No. 1 operator in terms of revenue market share even if the Vodafone-Idea merger were to go through. It also gives Airtel access to valuable spectrum to thwart the latest challenge in 4G services from Reliance Jio.

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