
Govt’s equity-for-debt plan to aid Vi’s cash flow; survival concerns persist
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The government’s fresh equity-for-debt in Vodafone Idea is expected to provide the telecom operator with a ₹40,000 crore cash flow relief over the next three years and reduce the operator’s net debt by 18%, analysts said, adding that concerns over the company’s survival remain.
This is because, with the government converting spectrum dues worth ₹36,950 crore, the telecom operator would now have to pay a total of over 66% less in statutory dues over the next three years after the expiry of the current moratorium later this year. However, analysts said the company must meet a yearly ₹43,000 crore payment obligation (spectrum and adjusted gross revenue dues) to the government over FY28-31.
Without equity conversion, Vodafone Idea’s payable spectrum dues to the government would have been ₹11,000 crore for FY26. For FY27 and FY28 each, the spectrum-related outgo would have been ₹25,000 crore.
However, with the conversion, the company’s dues outgo for the pre-2021 spectrum will reduce to ₹500 crore in FY26, ₹5,000 crore in FY27, and ₹15,000 crore in FY28, according to estimates from brokerage Citi Research. The brokerage, however, said the company would have to make annual spectrum payments of ₹2,200 crore for post-2021 spectrum acquisitions and yearly adjusted gross revenue (AGR) payments of ₹16,500 crore.
“Overall, we view this as a major display of support by the government in a very timely manner, which should provide significant cash flow relief to Vi (Vodafone Idea) in the next 3 years and help it complete its bank debt raise," said Saurabh Handa and Prerna Goenka, analysts at Citi Research in a note on Monday. “This should help Vi move one step closer to completing its long-delayed
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