Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL), which offers telecom services under the MTS brand name, on Thursday received a loan totalling $200 million (nearly Rs. 977 crore) from two banks, which will be used to further scale up its operations.

The company has raised $100 million from ICICI Bank and another $100 million from Barclays Bank, SSTL said in a statement.

"We plan to utilise the raised money to further scale up our telecom operations in the country," SSTL Chief Financial Officer Sergey Savchenko said.

This loan has been proportionally secured by Russia''s Gazprombank through a standby letter of credit and bank guarantee.

The entire $200 million loan has been received by SSTL in a single tranche, which is payable within three years, by 2014.

Last year, the Russian government made a $600 million capital infusion to pick up a stake in the company.

SSTL is a joint venture in which Russia-based Sistema holds a 56.68 per cent stake, while the Russian Federation holds 17.14 per cent, Shyam Group of India another 23.98 per cent and the remaining 2.2 per cent is held by the public.

MTS in India has over 13 million wireless subscribers and under the MBlaze brand provides mobile broadband services to more than 1,000,000 customers in over 200 cities across the country.