Vodafone Idea raises Rs 5000 crore in short-term loans for NCD payments

Vi has raised about ₹ 5,000 crore via short term loans from a group of lenders, led by State Bank of India and including, HDFC Bank, IndusInd and Union Bank of India, say people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The telecommunications joint venture between Vodafone UK and the Aditya Birla Group of India plans to use the money for ₹ 4,500 crore of payment for the redemption of non-convertible bonds (NCD) due from February 2022. He has already disbursed a tranche of ₹ 1,500 crore towards the ransom in early January and will pay the remaining ₹ 3,000 crore in three tranches of ₹ 2,000 crore, ₹ 500 crore and ₹ 500 crore until January-February 2022, according to his last disclosure annual report.

Vi short-term loans mature in less than a year, and interest is likely to be in a wide range of 6.5-8.5% according to individual banks, one of the people said.

Telecommunications, meanwhile, is looking to unravel these loans with the proceeds of its long-awaited share-based fundraiser likely to close at the end of this fiscal year in March. “We have planned a sale of shares by global investors … once that happens in the coming months, our loan will be repaid using a portion of the profits,” said another person.

Last month, Vi’s top deck indicated on a call from domestic investors that telecommunications is expected to close its equity funding, including from developers, by the end of March. It was the first time Vi’s management had said that the company’s promoters – Vodafone Plc and the Aditya Birla Group – were likely injecting fresh equity amid efforts to shut down long-awaited telecommunications fundraising. Vodafone UK and the Aditya Birla Group now have 44.39% and 27.66% stake, respectively, in Vi. Bolivia