Vodafone Idea (Vi) has approached lenders including SBI, PNB, HDFC Bank and IDFC First for loans aggregating upward of Rs 7,000 crore, according to an Economic Times report quoting three people aware of the matter. It added that a significant part of the loan will be utilised for clearing a portion of the company’s dues to Indus Towers.
Shares of Vodafone Idea on Friday were trading lower by Rs 0.10 or 1.14 per cent at Rs 7.78 apiece on the BSE during the day.
“Yes, Vi has approached us for a loan but we haven’t committed anything to them; it’s at a logjam,” a senior official at a bank told ET. Vi has dues of Rs 7,500 crore that it needs to pay to Indus Towers.
The banks have, however, sought clarity from Vodafone Idea on the government’s potential shareholding and its plans to infuse capital in the company.
According to the ET report, another banker said Vodafone Idea has asked them to factor in Rs 15,000 crore in bank guarantees and grant fresh loans. It also quoted another official saying that a loan cannot be given to a company “that has a negative net worth”. As of September 2022, Vi had a negative net worth of Rs 75,830 crore.
“Vi could face stern action from Indus if it fails to meet the latest payment timelines, starting from January…if it does not pay up on time, things could escalate and stronger measures to recover its dues may be discussed at Indus’ next board meeting later this month,” a person familiar of the matter told ET.
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.
Shares of Vodafone Idea on Friday were trading lower by Rs 0.10 or 1.14 per cent at Rs 7.78 apiece on the BSE during the day. On Thursday, the shares had settled 0.77 per cent higher at Rs 7.87 apiece on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex had closed 304.18 points or 0.50 per cent lower at 60,353.27.
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