The announcement followed media reports last month that Bharti, led by billionaire founder-chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, was mulling a bid for the South Africa-based MTN.

MTN has 68.2 million subscribers in more than 20 countries. Its largest operations are in South Africa, Nigeria and Iran.

'Bharti Airtel Ltd has entered into an exploratory discussion with MTN Group Ltd, South Africa,' Mr Bharti said in a brief statement issued late on Monday.

'Current discussions are still at an early stage, are exploratory in nature and may or may not lead to any transaction,' the company said.

Bharti Airtel is more than 30 per cent owned by Singapore's SingTelNet.

A Bharti spokesman told AFP that the company had nothing further to add to its statement.

MTN's shares have surged on media reports Bharti might bid for the company, pushing its stock to record highs and giving the South African firm a market capitalisation of around 278 billion rand (S$50 billion).

Under one possible scenario, Bharti could make a partial offer for a 51 per cent stake in MTN, allowing the South African group to keep its Johannesburg Stock Exchange listing, Britain's Financial Times reported earlier.

In a separate statement, MTN urged shareholders 'to exercise caution when dealing in the company's securities until a further announcement is made.'

The bid talk comes on the heels of a series of high-profile takeovers of foreign companies by cash-flush corporate India.

In March, India's top vehicle maker Tata Motors, part of the sprawling Tata Group, bought two of Britain's proudest car emblems, Jaguar and Land Rover, from struggling US carmaker Ford for US$2.3 billion.

'With MTN, Bharti would be present in more than 20 odd countries. They would become a global player - Bharti would be moving into the big league,' said an industry analyst close to the Indian firm who asked not to be named.

'Branching out makes sense because Bharti is already the top Indian player - the Indian game is done in that sense. Now is the time to look at the global market,' the analyst said.

Bharti, which controls 23.8 per cent of the Indian phone market, has 64 million clients, 62 million of them mobile subscribers.

It reported fourth-quarter net profit jumped 37 per cent to 18.5 billion rupees from the same period a year ago. Full-year net profit to March 31 leapt 57 per cent to 67.01 billion rupees.

Bharti has been going from strength to strength in the Indian mobile market, the world's fastest-growing which added a record 10.16 million cellular subscribers in March, taking India's total to 261.1 million.

It was unclear whether Bharti would have a clear run for MTN as rival Reliance Communications is reportedly also considering entering the fray. China Mobile and leading global mobile player Vodafone have also been mentioned.

The Financial Times earlier this month quoted Mittal as saying Bharti would have no trouble raising funds for a potential bid despite the global credit crunch.

Media reports have said MTN's board would be reluctant to sell off 100 per cent of one of South Africa's top companies to a foreign buyer but could consider other ownership structures. -- AFP