Vi eyes ₹35,000-crore loan to fund next decade's capex

Mumbai: Vodafone Idea (Vi) is stitching together a consortium of eight to ten lenders to finance a ₹35,000-crore, 10-year term loan as the Aditya Birla Group-backed mobile operator gets ready to raise funds for capital expenditure in the next decade.

The nation's largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) has approved a proposal to take about 20% of the exposure (likely at ₹7,000 crore) and the rest of the loan will be divided among other public and private sector lenders with a minimum of ₹1,500 crore per creditor, people familiar with the details said.

"SBI has done an internal assessment which came to about ₹35,000 crore of loans needed. Now it is upto the company to get other lenders on board. The company will totally need ₹60,000 crore to upgrade its services which means some of it will have come from internal accruals or equity infusion later," said a person familiar with the details.


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SBI has set certain conditions to this loan which says that any shortfall in the investments above the bank loan amount during this period, will be managed by the company. Kumar Mangalam Birla, who came back as chairman of Vi in May 2026, has to also remain the chairman of the company for the tenure of the loan, people familiar with the details said.

"SBI would have an oversight over the cash flows of the company and all funds will be routed to their accounts. There is also a clause that the Aditya Birla Group has to maintain its equity stake in the company after converting its warrants and rights. There is also a comfort guarantee from a group company which is part of the conditions," said a second person aware of the details.

SBI did not reply to an email seeking comment.

Equity Ownership

The Aditya Birla Group and associated companies own about 6.64% in the company currently and is the third largest shareholder behind the Government of India (GoI) and UK based Vodafone (19%). To be sure, the government currently owns 49% of the telco after it converted some dues into equity.

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Bankers wanted a comfort from the group that Vi and its creditors will not be left to fend for themselves if things don't pan out as planned. "Kumar Birla had earlier quit the Vi board in 2021 when the company was burdened by high government outgoes and falling revenues. He came back as chairman in May this year as things improved. Banks want to make sure that they are not left in a lurch if things don't work out," said the second person cited above. Vi did not reply to an email seeking comment.

Among the other prominent lenders in the consortium is the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) which is likely to be the second largest lender in the corsortium with about ₹4,000 crore exposure. NaBFID did not reply to an email seeking comment. "Other large public sector banks like Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India are also in touch with the company and are likely to be on board now that SBI has joined. Large private sector banks like ICICI and HDFC are also in touch. This is a large loan and will need eight to 10 lenders. The contours of the loan will be ready by the middle of October," said a third person aware of the details.