Vodafone Idea needs capital infusion, tariff hike for survival in India: Report

NEW DELHI: Vodafone Idea’s survival is hinging on decent-sized capital infusion and industry reforms such as floor tariff and other reliefs, brokerage firm ICICI Securities said in a note on Monday.
“VIL is the weakest private telco. The company continues to face losses (now slipping into negative networth) and risk of eventual bankruptcy. While AGR extension could be a short term breather, its survival hinging on decent sized capital infusion and industry reforms such as floor tariff and other reliefs,” it said.
VIL, which had earlier sought a 20-year period, had changed this to 15 years in the last court hearing.
“We expect the Supreme Court to allow staggered payment over 15 years, where the annual payout for VIL will be ~RS 6000 crore. It indicated that further Capex plans, as well as fundraising initiative decisions, will be taken post the AGR verdict, which we believe will hold the key for survival,” it added.