Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has announced its decision to upgrade the rating of Indian telecommunication giant Bharti Airtel.

The rating agency upgraded the shares of the company from 'BB+' to 'BBB-'. The company said that the upgrade shows that the company will use its significant free operating cash flows and funds from strategic measures in order to reduce its leverage in order to improve its financial risk profile.

The shares of the company rose 5 per cent to Rs. 300 after the upgrade. The agency said that it had raised its long-term corporate credit rating on telecommunication services provider to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'. The ratings shows a stable outlook and is higher than the outlook given to India by S&P meaning that the company will be able to withstand sovereign stress.

"We raised the rating to reflect our expectation that Bharti will use its significant free operating cash flows and funds from strategic measures to reduce its leverage to a level that is in line with an intermediate financial risk profile," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Abhishek Dangra in a press release.

The shares of the company were trading 5.4 per cent higher at Rs. 301 this morning.