Bharti Airtel put its tower assets in Bangladesh up for sale, according to a report in The Economic Times.

Sources said the Airtel Bangladesh tower assets — which include 4,000 towers — are expected to fetch at least $200 million by the parent company.

The move is believed to be part of Bharti Airtel’s efforts to raise more than $2 billion to boost cash reserves, according to the report.

With a forthcoming auction for spectrum in the 900MHz band in India, Bharti could be looking to increase the cash it can spend to secure spectrum. A new set of M&A rules in its home market could also see Bharti in the market for acquisitions.

On the other hand, the group has $9.3 billion in debt, largely linked to its acquisition of Zain’s African unit four years ago. Cash generated from the tower sales could therefore be used to improve its balance sheet.

Bharti took full control of the mobile operations in Bangladesh last year when it acquired a 30 per cent stake held by Warid Telecom. At the end of the fourth quarter, Airtel Bangladesh had 8.3 million connections, according to GSMA Intelligence estimates.

The group is believed to have previously received separate offers for its tower networks in Bangladesh and Africa. Bharti expects to generate $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion by selling its network of 15,000 towers in Africa, according to The Economic Times.

Bharti previously raised money from its tower assets with an IPO of its Bharti Infratel unit in December 2012.