Vodafone Idea Ltd.'s board on Friday approved fundraising of up to Rs 20,000 crore via equity or debt. An extraordinary general meeting will be convened to seek shareholders' approval on June 27.
The fundraising comes given the financial strain on the Aditya Birla Group telco and the need to refinance.
During the year, Vodafone Idea raised funds via equity of Rs 61,400 crore, including a follow-on public offer of Rs 18,000 crore, preferential issue of Rs 4,000 crore to promoters — Rs 2,100-crore stake allotted to Aditya Birla and Rs 1,900 crore to Vodafone Group. This also includes Rs 2,500 crore raised from vendors (Nokia and Ericsson) and Rs 36,900 crore from the government via conversion of debt into equity.
"We remain engaged with lenders to secure debt financing to support our broader capex plans of Rs 50,000–55,000 crore," Chief Executive Officer Akshaya Moondra said.
The fundraising plan was announced after the company reported a wider net loss of Rs 7,166 crore in the March quarter compared to the previous one.
Vodafone Idea's net worth was a negative Rs 70,320 crore as of March 2025. Negative net worth occurs when a company's accumulated losses and liabilities exceed its assets and capital.
Total AGR dues stood at Rs 1.95 lakh crore. Installments related to deferred payment obligations towards spectrum payable during FY26 are Rs 2,538 crore.
On the other hand, the company owed Rs 2,330 crore to banks as of March. The amount payable during FY26 is Rs 1,600 crore.
The cash and bank balance stood at Rs 9,930 crore.
Shares of Vodafone Idea closed 3.2% lower at Rs 6.92 apiece on the BSE, ahead of the results, compared to a 0.2% fall in the benchmark Sensex. The stock has fallen 53% in the last 12 months and 14% so far this year.
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