Cash-rich Bharti Airtel eyes zero debt as Vodafone Idea borrows to stay afloat

appointing Gopal Vittal as executive vice chairman and Shashwat Sharma as chief executive officer effective 1 January 2026, along with a string of other changes in top management.

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Vi's fundraise marks a tentative revival.

(MINT)

On Thursday, shares of Bharti Airtel closed 0.5% lower at ₹2,098.3, while that of Vodafone Idea closed 1.8% higher at ₹11.3 on the National Stock Exchange. The benchmark Nifty 50 ended flat at 25,815.5.

Vi's fundraise marks a tentative revival after years of acute financial stress that brought the company close to bankruptcy as government dues mounted to nearly ₹2 trillion. Of this, AGR dues stood at ₹78,500 crore as of the end of September, with the balance largely linked to spectrum acquired through auctions.

These liabilities are now under review by the Centre after a late October Supreme Court order that provided interim relief. AGR represents the income calculated from telecom operators' total revenues, serving as the basis for regulatory fee payments.

Vi's latest fund raise sets off a fresh capital expenditure cycle at the beleaguered company, CEO Abhijit Kishore said in the statement: "This capital strengthens our momentum as we continue to scale our network and enhance services for our customers. Discussions relating to long-term debt raise to support capex are ongoing with banks."