Additional Rs 25K crore debt won’t cause much stress on Vodafone Idea: Company

KOLKATA: Vodafone Idea’s plans to raise an additional Rs 25,000 crore via the debt route won’t cause any financial stress as the telco has sharply cut bank exposure – by almost Rs 35,000 crore – in the past two-and-a-half years and improved operational performance, top company sources told ET.

The telecom JV of UK’s Vodafone Group and India’s Aditya Birla Group (ABG), in fact, is counting on the targeted funding primarily to plug its 4G coverage gaps and rein in customer losses to be able to compete more effectively with bigger rivals, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in its priority markets.