No plans of new equity infusion into Vi, says Vodafone Group

In the past too, Vodafone had maintained that it won't put any fresh equity in the telecom company. However, the Centre's recent move had triggered speculation that the Vodafone Group would inject some capital to demonstrate its keenness to revive the loss-making telco.

Vi has to repay Rs 9,000 crore to banks by the end of FY21, including Rs 5,000 crore of non-convertible debentures. The telecom has a total debt of Rs 1.91 lakh crore of debt and a cash balance of just Rs 920 crore.

Meanwhile, the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) has not issued any official statement on whether or not it would put any fresh equity into Vi. However, an Economic Times report on Wednesday quoted a source close to the ABG group as saying, “The pros and cons of a fresh capital infusion are back on the discussion table”.

According to reports, Vi’s lenders are pushing promoters to put in funds into the telco anticipating that the move will also prompt other investors to pump in more capital.

Significantly, the Centre is mulling a stake purchase in debt-ridden Vi by converting a part of the dues owed by the company to keep the telecom sector a three-player sector.

While Vodafone Group Plc owns 44.39 percent of Vodafone Idea, ABG holds 27.66 percent