Government approves conversion of Rs 16,133 crore interest dues of Vodafone Idea into equity

Tags: Economy/Finance National News

The government has approved the conversion of debt-ridden Vodafone Idea's interest dues of over Rs 16,133 crore into equity.

An overview of the news

• The government said Aditya Birla Group, one of the promoters, has committed to bring in additional funds.

• With this conversion, the government is expected to become the largest shareholder in the loss-making telecom company with 33.14 per cent stake.

• Vodafone Idea will issue equity shares at a face value of Rs 10 each to the government.

• This relief for the company comes as part of the reform package announced by the government in September 2021.

Merger of Vodafone and Idea

• Kumar Mangalam Birla's telecom company Idea Cellular agreed to merge with Vodafone in March 2017.

• According to the latest data published by telecom regulator TRAI, the company has 243 million mobile subscribers, with a market share of 21.33 per cent.

• It is the only telecom operator that is yet to place purchase orders for equipment for 5G services and is struggling to clear dues to its vendors.

Largest mobile subscriber companies in India

• Reliance Jio is a leading wireless telecom company with more than 411 million customers across India.

• Bharti Airtel (21.5 crore), Vodafone Idea (12.2 crore) are in second and third place respectively.

Vodafone Idea 

• It is a joint venture of Vodafone (United Kingdom) and Aditya Birla Group.

• It has the third largest mobile telecommunication network in India. 

• Headquarters: Gandhinagar, Gujarat 

• Corporate Headquarters: Mumbai 

• Chairman: Ravinder Takkar

• Chief Executive Officer: Akshay Moondra