In a recent development, Vodafone Idea, a prominent telecommunications company in India, has fulfilled a crucial financial obligation by making a payment of Rs 1,701 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) towards the 2022 Spectrum Auction Installment. The payment was confirmed through a regulatory filing and was stated to be in accordance with the terms specified in the Notice Inviting Applications dated June 15, 2022.
This payment comes after an earlier filing on August 14, where Vodafone Idea announced receiving communication from a promoter group entity assuring financial support of up to Rs. 2,000 crore to meet impending payment obligations if required.
However, on August 24, CARE Ratings revised the outlook of Vodafone Idea (VIL)’s long-term bank facilities and instruments from ‘Positive’ to ‘Stable’. This adjustment took into account the delay in fund raising from investors and financial institutions against anticipated timelines, despite acknowledging the experienced management team, pan-India telecom presence, stable outlook for the Indian telecommunications industry, and backing from promoter groups such as the Aditya Birla group (ABG) and the Vodafone group Plc (VGP).
The ratings also considered the majority shareholding (33.14 percent as of June 30, 2023) of the Government of India through the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management. Despite these positive factors, the ratings underscored VIL’s weakened financial risk profile, erosion of tangible net worth, a consistently declining subscriber base, and delays in fundraising, hindering efforts to expand 4G and implement timely 5G services.
