Vodafone Idea is chasing SBI for up to Rs 16,000 crore loan: Report

“The team is in talks with Vi, but it’s at a nascent stage... some clarifications
have been sought... on when the government will convert the telco's interest
liability into equity and its business plans” sources said.

In the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the losses for the telecom operator widened to nearly Rs 7,600 crore.  The company said it lost 60 lakh subscribers during the quarter. Its customer base now stands at 23.44 crore, nearly half of that of Reliance Jio, which added 77 lakh subscribers in the given quarter.

Vi has been struggling to raise funds from multiple avenues for a while now.  The delays in conversion of part of statutory debt to equity in lieu of the government has also hindered the raising of funds majorly.

The company management said it is in discussion with the government to convert the equity, however, it has not heard any communication from the Department of Telecom (DoT) since April 2022.

An approval by the Sebi to convert Vi's $1.92 billion in dues to equity is likely to make the government the largest shareholder in the company with over 30 percent stake in it.

“It continues to lose subscribers (mainly in 2G segment) and that adversely impacts revenue growth. The addition of 4G subscribers remains muted,” said Piyush Pandey, Lead Analyst at Yes Securities. He added that the company “urgently needs massive capital infusion” for augmenting the capital expenditure to match up with peers in terms of 4G coverage.