Norwegian media, communications and IT company Telenor has agreed to buy up to a 60 percent stake in part of a telecommunications unit in India-based Unitech Ltd. for a price tag of more than 61.2 billion rupees (US$1.23 billion), The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Telenor, also an SFN partner, will fund the investment through a “draw-down on existing credit facilities and/or issuance of short-term commercial paper,” Digital Media Asia reported Wednesday.

New Delhi-based Unitech Wireless, established in 2007, has telecommunications licenses in all of India's 22 telecom circles, and has said it will commence its services in the middle of next year, according to Digital Media Asia. The company currently employs more than 250 people.

Telenor Asia will subscribe to new Unitech Wireless Shares, creating an “enterprise value” of 116.20 billion rupees for the telecom unit, according to The Wall Street Journal.

India has the second-largest mobile phone market in the world, in which is expected to grow 21 percent a year, reaching 737 million in 2012, according to research firm Gartner Inc., The Wall Street Journal reported.