Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL), the third-largest telecom operator, has announced an ambitious goal to raise and deploy Rs 45,000 crore for capex (capital expenditure) in the next three years. This amounts to Rs 15,000 crore each year. This is in addition to the Rs 18,000 crore the telco has already invested in the last six quarters, said Abhijit Kishore, CEO of Vodafone Idea, at the company's recent earnings call. Vi reported a net loss of Rs 5,286 crore in Q3 FY26. The telco's ARPU (average revenue per user) reached Rs 186, which is now inching closer to Rs 200. With another round of tariff hike, Vi should be able to surpass the Rs 200 ARPU figure, and Jio should reach close to Rs 250. As for Airtel, the telco might just jump near the Rs 300 figure as it is already standing on Rs 256 at the end of Q2 FY26.
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For now, let's circle back to Vi and the CEO's statement on capex. "So, if you see, over a four-and-a-half-year period, we would be investing more than Rs 60,000 crore," said Kishore. This is a major amount, and would allow Vi to come closer to its competitors including Jio and Airtel.
"I think the game here is now to move from survival and suspicion to strength, and from the intent to really move into the impact of making a meaningful constructive long-term impact," Kishore added. The telco's AGR (adjusted gross reveue) dues have been frozen by the government for a decade, with very little amounts of annual payments to be made. This will help the telco in raising more funds via debt in the near future.
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Even Kumar Mangalam Birla commented on the development, and said, "For the first time in years, the fog has cleared, allowing the business to look beyond survival, and focus on sustainable growth."
