Cash-strapped Vodafone Idea intends to raise up to Rs 20,000 crore, for which it is in talks with three to four private equity funds. Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla informed the senior officials of the Department of Telecom (DoT) about the same during a recent meeting.
A source cited in the Business Standard’s report said, “We had a meeting with Birla, one of the promoters of Voda-Idea, to discuss raising capital. We were told that talks are on with 3 to 4 private equity investors to raise money. Though no timeline for raising capital was discussed, we are confident that the company will be back on track very soon.”
When asked if Birla had requested any additional concessions on the repayment of VIL’s debt to the government, such as turning a portion of the debt into equity, the official responded that no discussion about this proposal has taken place as yet. In FY26, a sizable portion of the VIL’s debt to the DoT is due.
The assurance from a significant telco promoter becomes important because there are worries that Vodafone Idea will suffer as a result of the capital raising process taking longer than expected. Additionally, the company cannot launch 5G services or increase the scope of its 4G services without sufficient funding. While its competitors have a pan-India network, VIL has a 90 per cent coverage of the nation.
As per several reports, Temasek Holdings in Singapore and KKR in New York are two of the private equity funds that Vodafone Idea has discussed working with. However, neither of these companies wished to comment on the situation. Investors had to wait until the government converted a portion of its debt into 33 per cent equity in the telco, making it the single largest stakeholder.
The process was finally concluded in February 2023 when the government converted Rs 16,133 crore in interest payments into equity, after a delay of about 16 months. This opened the door for discussions with potential investors. The company’s debt was only slightly reduced by the conversion of debt into equity. Vodafone Idea still owes Rs. 2.1 lakh crore in debt.
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