<p>GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, said on Tuesday it and a group of investors, including Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, bought an Indian telecom tower company from a unit of Reliance Industries for $3.4 billion.</p>.<p>The deal was signed in December last year and had been awaiting regulatory approval.</p>.<p>Since then, Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance has been selling stakes in its digital unit to blue-chip companies, raising billions of dollars, to cut debt.</p>.<p>The finalisation of the deal also marks a foray into the fast-growing telecom market in India, which, in recent years, has been upended by the launch of Jio, Reliance's telecom arm, whose cut-price packages have turned it into the country's biggest telecom carrier by subscribers.</p>.<p>With the number of people using the internet in the world's second-most-populous country rising, the infrastructure that would widen its accessibility is a key building block.</p>.<p>"The portfolio offers resilient income and long-term value given India's attractive data demand growth outlook as 4G and smartphone penetration is still very low," said Ang Eng Seng, GIC's chief investment officer for infrastructure.</p>.<p>The investment by the group is for around 135,000 communication towers used by Reliance's telecoms venture Jio Infocomm, GIC said in a statement.</p>.<p>"While we remain cautious in this period of high uncertainty, we continue to seek good, long-term opportunities in India," Seng said. </p>
<p>GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, said on Tuesday it and a group of investors, including Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, bought an Indian telecom tower company from a unit of Reliance Industries for $3.4 billion.</p>.<p>The deal was signed in December last year and had been awaiting regulatory approval.</p>.<p>Since then, Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance has been selling stakes in its digital unit to blue-chip companies, raising billions of dollars, to cut debt.</p>.<p>The finalisation of the deal also marks a foray into the fast-growing telecom market in India, which, in recent years, has been upended by the launch of Jio, Reliance's telecom arm, whose cut-price packages have turned it into the country's biggest telecom carrier by subscribers.</p>.<p>With the number of people using the internet in the world's second-most-populous country rising, the infrastructure that would widen its accessibility is a key building block.</p>.<p>"The portfolio offers resilient income and long-term value given India's attractive data demand growth outlook as 4G and smartphone penetration is still very low," said Ang Eng Seng, GIC's chief investment officer for infrastructure.</p>.<p>The investment by the group is for around 135,000 communication towers used by Reliance's telecoms venture Jio Infocomm, GIC said in a statement.</p>.<p>"While we remain cautious in this period of high uncertainty, we continue to seek good, long-term opportunities in India," Seng said. </p>