Bharti Airtel has approached the State Bank of India for a $2bn loan as part of a plan to offer more cash and fewer shares to sweeten a $23bn tie-up with South Africa’s MTN, people close to the deal have told the Financial Times.

India’s largest mobile operator is understood to have requested the $2bn loan so it could increase the cash component of the deal by 5-10 per cent to about a net $5bn, compared with $4bn under the original plan. This would reduce the issuance of global depository receipts, according to one person familiar with the matter.