Vodafone Idea (Vi), the third-largest telecom company in India, has been struggling primarily due to debt on its shoulders. The debt, majorly comprises of the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues. This amounts to more than Rs 80,000 crore for the telco. Now the government is the one that can solve this issue for the telco. The ask from the operator isn't to reduce the debt or remove it, but to restructure it in a way that is feasible for its business. Earlier, to help, the government had announced a deferral, but now that is unlikely going to happen.
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Vodafone Idea (Vi) has been eyeing to raise fresh debt from the market. However, even the market isn't confident of provide Vi with debt as there's no clarity around the AGR dues payments. Till the time AGR dues are not sorted for the telco, it would find it hard to raise funds from the market. There were also rumours flying in the market that a foreign organisation is interested in taking up the largest stake in the telco. However, no such thing has been addressed by the company nor has it seen any developments.
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Vodafone Idea's future is, if not totally, then majorly dependent on the Indian government. The government, being the largest stakeholder in the company, wouldn't want the telco to go under. However, the way things are progressing right now, there are barely any positives for the company. If the government can sort out the AGR dues matter with Vi, then that could potentially open up gates for funds and also allow the telco to get equity investors in the near future. The Supreme Court recently said that the government can reconsider its decision to ask for AGR dues related to 2016-17 era.
