Bharti Airtel to consider capital raising options as Board of Directors meet on August 29

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Telecom major Bharti Airtel will consider fresh capital raising options on August 29, when the company's Board of Directors is scheduled to meet, it said in a regulatory filing on August 25.

The company said it will explore the options to raise capital via equity or debt instruments.

"We wish to inform you that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled on Sunday, August 29, 2021, to inter-alia consider various capital raising options through equity or equity-linked or debt instruments or any combination thereof, as the Board may deem appropriate," the BSE filing noted.

The announcement, which is pursuant to the Sebi Regulations, 2015, comes at a time when Airtel, along with rival Vodafone-Idea (Vi), is reeling under financial challenges.

Airtel Chief Executive Officer Gopal Vittal said on August 5 that he hoped the government would take measures to offer relief to the financially stressed telecom sector.

"There is clearly a situation of serious financial stress in the industry and we have seen one of the players actually saying to the government that they may not be able to pay their dues coming up in March 2022. We hope that the government does something to provide some relief to the industry," Vittal had said.

The telecom companies recently faced a setback on the issue involving adjusted gross revenue (AGR)-related dues, as the Supreme Court dismissed the applications which sought re-calculation of dues.

Vittal said while Airtel is "disappointed" with the outcome, the company has provisioned for the onerous payout and already paid over Rs 18,000 crore covering its obligations for the first few years.