MUMBAI, June 19 Reuters UK39;s Vodafone Group plans to sell a stake of nearly 18 in India39;s Indus Towers for up to 2 billion, more than the roughly 10 stake it planned to sell earlier, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

The British telecommunications firm, which owns a 21.5 stake in mobiletower operator Indus, will use the proceeds to repay debt, Reuters reported last week.

Vodafone had in 2022 said it would sell its complete stake in the Indian firm.

In the latest stake sale, planned for Wednesday, the company plans to sell shares in a price range of 310 rupees to 341 rupees.

Shares of Indus Towers fell as much as 9.4, before paring losses to trade down 3.9 at 331 rupees.

Over 615 million shares of Indus Towers changed hands across hundreds of block deals on Wednesday, with around 713 million shares traded overall, per National Stock Exchange of India data.

Indus, which claims to be one of the world39;s biggest tower companies, also has India39;s secondbiggest telecom firm, Bharti Airtel, as a shareholder.

Bharti Airtel said on Wednesday it bought 27 million shares or a roughly 1 stake in Indus, but did not share the price at which they were bought.

Private equity giant KKR and Canadian fund CPPIB were also investors in Indus, but sold their entire stakes in February.

Block deals, where investors sell shares in stock markets, have become increasingly popular in India as the market has surged to record highs.

Reporting by Sriram Mani in…