Vodafone Idea’s top lenders urge promoters to infuse more funds into telco

Kolkata/Mumbai: Key lenders of Vodafone Idea (Vi) want the company’s promoters to infuse more equity for the cash-strapped telco to qualify for future loans, saying the recent Rs 2,000-crore financial support offered is inadequate given its weak credit rating.

At a recent meeting with its core lenders, Vi made a pitch to raise more debt to fund its network expansion plans. But the banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) told the company that its promoters – the UK’s Vodafone Plc and India’s Aditya Birla Group – needed to push through a much bigger equity infusion to compensate for Vi’s lower credit rating and give lenders the confidence to approve larger loans, people aware of the discussions said.