NEW DELHI: After a long series of investments secured by Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms, a report in the Financial Times said on Thursday that tech giant Google may be involved in talks to pick up a 5 per cent stake in Jio rival Vodafone Idea.This investment, if it fructifies, will be a shot in the arm for the joint venture between the Aditya Birla group and British telecom major Vodafone Plc.
According to the report, Alphabet Inc’s Google is looking to buy about 5 per cent stake in Vodafone Idea. However, neither Google nor Vodadone Idea have commented on the development.The move follows Facebook and other private equity investors pouring in USD 10 billion in Jio Platforms, which holds billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecom firm, Jio.
Vodafone Idea Ltd was hit severely by a Supreme Court judgement on adjusted gross revenues (AGR) last year, with unpaid dues estimated by the government at nearly Rs 58,000 crore. The Department of Telecom (DoT) as per its own submission to the apex court earlier this year had put the dues of three telecom companies — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Group — at a cumulative Rs 1.19 lakh crore.
In contrast to the government’s estimates, Bharti Group had calculated its dues at Rs 13,004 crore, Vodafone Idea at Rs 21,533 crore and Tata Group of companies at Rs 2,197 crore.