FILE PHOTO: Employees work inside a Vodafone Idea store in Bengaluru, India, January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh/File Photo
| Photo Credit:
Elaborating on its efforts to bag bank funding, debt-ridden Vodafone Idea (Vi) on Tuesday voiced optimism on closing discussion with six to seven public sector banks, led by the State Bank of India.During the post-results conference call, Abhijit Kishore, the Chief Executive at the telecom company, spoke about its broader financial architecture to support a capex plan of ₹45,000 crore over the next three years.Making progressHe outlined the efforts towards bank funding into three cohorts: conversation with PSUs led by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Indian private banks, and external commercial borrowings (ECB) with foreign banks.“We are hopeful of closing the discussion with the PSU banks led by SBI, while also continuing work on other debt-rate streaks,” said Kishore, highlighting meaningful engagement with lenders across the three cohorts and substantial progress with each of them. The company raised its first tranche of funding, ₹6,400 crore, including partial proceeds of ₹1,183 crore from warrants and debt proceeds, comprising both fund-based and non-funded based facilities from ECBs and Indian private banks.“We have already placed orders for ₹9,000 crore of capex till now, including the capex undertaken in Q1 of FY27 of ₹1,930 crore. The supplies and execution of these orders have already commenced,” the management added.During the quarter, agencies Crisil and ICRA upgraded Vi’s ratings for certain long-term bank facilities. As of June 30, the company’s bank debt stood at ₹211 crore. The cash and bank balance stood at ₹6,558 crore, aided by the receipt of part proceeds from warrant issuance this quarter.Subscriber baseThe quarter marked the first time since the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular that the company reported an increase in its subscriber base, largely driven by a machine-to-machine (M2M) growth, according to an analyst.When asked for a break-up of the M2M subscribership, Kishore said, “I don’t think there is any prepaid subscriber as far as the M2M is concerned. They’re all post-paid subscribers. It could be a timing gap because there are certain businesses which are bootstrap. Whether it is in the gross acquisition or net addition, there is no structural challenge that we find in the business.”Published on August 11, 2026
