SINGAPORE - Singapore Telecommunications has agreed to increase its effective stake in India's mobile phone operator Bharti Airtel to 31.95 per cent from 30.43 per cent, the company said.

SingTel has entered into a conditional agreement with Bharti Group to purchase an additional 730,000 shares in Bharti Telecom, which is the sponsor of the listed entity Bharti Airtel, the Singapore firm said in a statement late on Friday.

SingTel will make an estimated payment of between 18,073 million Indian rupees to 30,084 million Indian rupees ($888 million) for the purchase of additional shares of Bharti Telecom, the statement said.

The price difference is because the payment schedule is spread over more than a year after the agreement kicks in on Nov. 12.

Bharti Telecom has a stake of around 45.3 per cent in Bharti Airtel.

On Friday Bharti Airtel gave a downbeat outlook due to a price war after posting its slowest pace of profit growth in at least six years, sending its shares down nearly 7 per cent.