NEW DELHI: Debt-laden Vodafone Idea (Vi) said it is in discussions with Indus Towers to clear its pending dues with softer payment terms. The statement from the telco comes after Indus Tower, in a letter, asked Vi to clear its dues or lose access to towers.
The firm owes Rs 7,000 crore to Indus Towers and Rs 2,000 crore to American Tower Corporation. “In connection with the above, we wish to inform that Indus Towers is one of the large vendors who provides passive infrastructure services to the company.
The firm has been in discussion with Indus for softer payment terms, which are continuing, but have not been concluded as yet,” said the company in an exchange filing. As Vi is the second-largest customer of Indus Towers after Bharti Airtel, losing access to towers may affect telecom services provided by the telco. It may also impact its plans to launch 5G wireless services in the country. Vi has been struggling on the financial front and has failed to raise fund. Its board in 2020 had approved a plan to raise Rs 25,000 crore but has only been able to raise close to Rs 5,000 crore so far, that too from promoters.
Meanwhile, Indus Tower, in a post Q1 investor conference call in August said the customer (Vi) has proposed a payment plan wherein they have conveyed the ability to pay part of the billed amount till December 2022 and 100% thereafter along with clearance in a phased manner between January 2023 and July 2023 of the old dues that accumulated till December 2022.
“We are engaged with the customer to work out a better payment plan, hence we expect to see gradual improvement in our trade receivables position that we will continue to monitor very closely,” Indus Towers’ CFO Vikas Poddar had told analysts.
Vi dues to Indus Towers
Vi owes Rs 7K cr to Indus Towers and Rs 2K crore to American Tower Corporation. As Vi is the second-largest customer of Indus, losing access to towers may affect telecom services