Vodafone Idea’s regulatory affairs EVP Sundeep Kathuria quits

Senior level executive exits continue to haunt . Industry veteran Sundeep Kathuria, the telco’s executive vice president (regulatory), is the latest to quit after over 20 years in the company, people with direct knowledge said.

Sanjeev Arora is believed to have replaced Kathuria as Vi’s new EVP (regulatory).

Vi didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In recent months, Vi has seen a spate of senior level executive exits, including ex-CTO Vishant Vora, former legal head Kumar Das, ex-brand officer Kavita Nair and chief technology security officer (CTSO) Amit Pradhan.

The exits also come at a time when loss-making telco has been desperately trying to arrange funding to ramp up its 4G network to counter competition from stronger rivals such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel and also clear its huge backlog of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

Vi, which reports earnings for the December quarter Saturday, needs cash to also clear its Rs 50,400 crore dues to the government based on AGR in 10 annual instalments.

Last September, Vi had announced a Rs 25,000-crore fundraising plan via a mix of debt and equity. In recent months, it has been negotiating around a $2-billion credit-line with an Oak Hill Advisors-led lenders’ consortium as part of that plan. Look My Gadget