Owing to strong gains in shares of Tata Communications (up 5.91 percent) and Bharti Airtel (up 5.08 percent), the BSE telecom index ended the day with a gain of 4.41 percent.

The telecom index logged strong gains even as most sectoral indices and the market benchmark Sensex ended in the red.

Shares of Bharti Airtel jumped after the company raised the entry-level pricing of its prepaid plans.

With a focus on improving realization, Airtel on July 28 announced revisions to its prepaid plans, raising its entry-level pricing by nearly 60 percent.

The revision will be effective from July 29, 2021.

The telecom operator said it has discontinued its Rs 49 entry-level prepaid recharge. The company's prepaid packs will now start from the Rs 79 smart recharge and offer up to four times more outgoing minutes of usage to customers along with double data, Airtel said in a statement.

"This change is in line with the company's focus on offering superior connectivity solutions. Airtel customers on entry-level recharge can now stay connected for longer without worrying about their account balance," it said.



Shares of Tejas Networks (up 5 percent) and Indus Towers (up 4.13 percent) also ended with healthy gains.

Out of 14 components in the index, 5 ended in the green while 9 in the red.

Reliance Communications, HFCL, and OnMobile Global were among the laggards.

Extending their losses into the third consecutive session, the Indian equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended in the red on July 28.

At close, the Sensex was 135 points, or 0.26 percent, down at 52,443.71 while the Nifty was at 15,709.40, down 37 points, or 0.24 percent.

The BSE Midcap index ended flat while the smallcap index fell 0.45 percent.