Vodafone Idea board to consider Rs 500-cr fundraising on Wednesday

The board of Vodafone Idea (Vi) will meet on Wednesday to consider a Rs 500-crore fund infusion plan from Vodafone Group Plc.

The infusion, the second in two months, comes ahead of the 5G spectrum auction that will see Indian telecom companies battle for airwaves in multiple bands.

In a stock exchange notification, Vi said the board will meet on Wednesday to consider the proposal for raising funds aggregating up to Rs 500 crore via equity shares or convertible warrants on a preferential basis to Vodafone group entities.

In March, Vi approved a Rs 4,500-crore fund raise with two promoters pitching in with capital. While Vodafone Group has invested around Rs 3,375 crore, the Aditya Birla group put in Rs 1,125 crore.  However, the company has so far been unable to raise funds from any external investor.

In a recent interaction with Business Standard, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Ravinder Takkar said the firm is looking to grow its 4G network and improve capacity with fund infusion. The bulk of the capex requirements in the next three to four years will be in these two buckets and will also include investments in 5G, Takkar said.

“We require Rs 25,000 crore of additional investment which the board has approved. Our promoters have recently put in Rs 4,500 crore, so we need about Rs 20,000 crore more which will be raised in combination of debt and equity,” he had said.