Beleaguered telecom operator Vodafone Idea has approached a host of lenders to raise loans worth over Rs 7,000 crore, The Economic Times reported on January 6. Most part of it would be used to clear a portion of its dues to Indus Towers, the report said, citing three people aware of the matter.
A senior bank official told ET that Vi did approach them for a loan, but it is a logjam. The lender has not committed anything to the telco.
Reportedly, an official at another lender said Vi has asked them to factor in Rs 15,000-crore bank guarantees and grant fresh loans.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
The matter relating to loans and raising funds has reportedly been in discussion for a while as lenders have sought clarity on the government's potential shareholding in Vi, as well as the telco's business scale-up plans.
Also Read: Vodafone Idea is chasing SBI for up to Rs 16,000 crore loan
Mounting debt
According to the report, Vi's dues to Indus have mounted to around Rs 7,500 crore. Telco's monthly dues to the tower company are estimated at Rs 250-300 crore, it added. Co-owned by the UK's Vodafone Plc and India's Aditya Birla Group (ABG), Vi has committed the tower company to pay 100 percent of its current dues from January onwards, and also clear its outstanding as of December 31, 2022, starting this month.
Indus had earlier warned Vi that it would disconnect access to tower sites unless its payments were cleared. The telco had subsequently given the deferred payment proposal, which was accepted by the tower company.
ET’s queries to Vi and ABG were unanswered till the press time. Vodafone and Indus declined to offer comment. Queries to SBI, PNB, HDFC Bank and IDFC First did not elicit a response.
As of September 2022, Vi had a negative net worth of Rs 75,830.8 crore and the banking system cannot give loans to a company that has a negative net worth, one of the officials quoted above told ET. There was no guarantee that these loans would be repaid, he added.
On Thursday, shares of Vodafone Idea settled 0.77 percent higher at Rs 7.87 apiece on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex closed 304.18 points or 0.50 percent lower at 60,353.27.
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