Vi unveils ₹45,000 cr capex plan, rules out equity raise

The firm is to raise ₹25,000 crore in bank funding and ₹10,000 crore in non-funded facilities

- Jatin Grover [e-mail]

Vi plans 4G parity with rivals in its 17 priority circles within 12 to 24 months.

(REUTERS)

Vodafone Idea (Vi) on Wednesday said it is targeting double-digit revenue growth, a threefold increase in operating profit, and sustained subscriber additions over the next three years, as it unveiled a ₹45,000-crore capital expenditure plan under its Vi 2.0 strategy.

To support the capex plan, the telecom operator is looking to raise ₹25,000 crore in bank funding and ₹10,000 crore in non-funded facilities. The company, however, is not seeking equity funding at this time.

The telecom operator's current funding structure (bank funding and non-funded facilities) is adequate to manage the investment plan, and it may reevaluate the situation two years down the line for fundraising via equity, Abhijit Kishore, chief executive officer of Vodafone Idea, said at an analyst meet in Mumbai.

The proposed investment of ₹45,000 crore, combined with the ₹18,000 crore spent over the past six quarters, would take the company’s total network investment to over ₹60,000 crore over a four-and-a-half-year period, the company said at the analyst meet.