The British telecom giant Vodafone Group has given INR 47,700 crore fresh equity capital in its Indian arm, making it the largest foreign direct investment in the country.
The money has been already received and the country’s largest telecom network after Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India will use the money to strengthen its spectrum portfolio, retire debt and network rollout.
Sunil Sood, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone India, said, “This reaffirms our commitment to India. With this, we will focus on right-sizing our spectrum portfolio and deployment of 4G and 5G technology.”
The fund came days before the spectrum auction commences in which government is putting 2,354.55 megahertz of spectrum at the suction table. Vodafone is considered to be one of the strongest bidders during the spectrum auction and the company has deposited EMD of INR 2,740 crore against Idea Cellular’s INR 2,000 crore and Bhatti Airtel’s INR 1980 crore.
Vodafone will be aiming to strengthen its broadband network as it is lacking behind Bharti Airtel. The Vodafone has 2G spectrum in all 22 circles, 3G in 15, and 4G in 9 circles, while Bharti Airtel has 2G, 3G, and 4G spectrum in all 22 circles, except Kerala where it doesn’t have 3G spectrum.
The Vodafone India has already hit the 200 million consumers’ mark, according to the company.
Vodafone is competing with Bharti Airtel for the top position by having 22.5 percent revenue market share. With the big push from the Vodafone Group, it will be focusing to strengthen its broadband network.
Vodafone India gets the largest foreign direct investment ever worth INR 47,700 core
