Vodafone Idea says customers were never charged additional IUC & nothing changes for them Vodafone Idea (Vi) said it’s customers were never charged any additional amount for calling across different networks and they will continue to enjoy the same services . ETTelecom December 31, 2020, 18:49 IST

 

Vodafone Idea (Vi) said it’s customers were never charged any additional amount for calling across different networks and they will continue to enjoy the same services .

“Vi customers have always enjoyed truly unlimited services with Vi Unlimited packs. Customers recharging with Vi Unlimited packs can continue to call their friends and family across all networks without any embargo even on calls made to other networks,” said the company on Friday .

Vi’s statement came on back of Reliance Jio Infocomm saying it will stop charging subscribers for local calls made to rival networks from Friday, when interconnect user charges (IUC) are scrapped.

“Vi customers have never had to take any additional IUC pack. Hence, Vi UL packs remain truly unlimited. For all Vi Unlimited pack users, domestic calls to other networks anywhere in India, has always been free and will continue to be free 1st Jan 2021 onwards as well,” it added .h over 294 million for Bharti Airtel and under 272 million for Vi, was a net revenue gainer from IUC, which was 6 paise a minute. The fee is paid by a telco from whose network a call originates to the operator on whose network the call terminates.

Covid impact: Govt extends tax compliance deadlines. Last date for ITR filing is now 10 Jan

 New Delhi: In view of coronavirus pandemic, the due date of furnishing of annual return under Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the financial year 2019-20 has been extended to 28 February, said Income Tax Department on Wednesday.

The due date for furnishing of income tax returns for FY20 has been extended to 10 January, 2021 from 31 December, 2020.Deadline for filing income tax return for 2019-20 by companies has been extended by 15 days to 15 February, 2021.

Airtel files FIR as 56 cables cut in Kandivli East Telecom major Airtel has filed an FIR with Samta Nagar police alleging sabotage after finding 56 of its optical fibre cables cut in Kandivli (E). TNN December 30, 2020, 14:42 IST-ET TELCOM

Telecom major Airtel has filed an FIR with Samta Nagar police alleging sabotage after finding 56 of its optical fibre cables cut in Kandivli (E). The FIR said it resulted in financial losses for Airtel. Police are yet to make arrests. Airtel assistant nodal officer Prathamesh Manjrekar submitted applications to police on December 2 and 16, and the FIR was lodged on December 17 under provisions of IPC and Indian Telegraph Act. .

The cables provide internet connectivity to customers and are installed after taking permission from agencies. Since last month, the company received complaints of loss of connectivity from residents of Kandivli (E). Between November 6 and December 11, cables were cut at 56 locations at Kandivli (E) alone. Airtel declined to comment.

Reliance Group says allegations of fraud 'unjustified' and 'unwarranted' Reliance Group has said that certain banks labelling the accounts of the now defunct telecom firm - Reliance Communications (Rcom) - and its units as fraud was "unjustified" and "unwarranted". ETTelecom Updated: December 30, 2020, 17:30 IST

Reliance group has said that certain banks labelling the accounts of the now defunct telecom firm - Reliance Communications (Rcom) - and its units as fraud was "unjustified" and "unwarranted". It also refuted reports on social media that RCom and its units owe lenders Rs 86,188 crore, saying they owe around Rs26,000 crore to Indian banks and financial institutions as on the date of filing before the dedicated bankruptcy court.

"The alleged ‘fraud’ classification by certain banks is entirely unjustified and unwarranted, and the ...Delhi High Court by an interim order has directed the same to be kept in abeyance for the time being, and the matter is now sub judice," the Reliance Group said in a statement Wednesday.

The comments come after lenders State Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank classified the accounts of the telco and its units — Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel — as fraudulent last week. The lenders are now looking to initiate a deeper probe, said one of the persons, ET reported in its December 28 edition.

The fraud allegations come a year after a forensic audit unearthed questionable transactions worth Rs 5,500 crore in the three Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group entities. The probe looked at transactions between May 2017 and March 2018.

RCom is believed to have moved the Delhi High Court, challenging the classification. Hearing the petition, the court directed the banks to maintain status quo and no coercive action till the next date of hearing, which has been set for January 13.

"It is being falsely and mischievously stated in a section of social media that RCOM Group of companies owe Rs 86,188 crore to Indian banks and financial institutions," the Anil Ambani led Reliance Group said in the statement.

"As per figures certified by the Resolution Professional appointed by the lenders, the RCOM group owed around Rs 26,000 crore to Indian banks and financial institutions as on the date of filing before the NCLT," it added. National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is the dedicated bankruptcy court where RCom filed for insolvency in 2019, under a debt of Rs 46,000 crore.

The latest allegations came at a time when RCom's resolution is in its final leg.

While UV Asset Reconstruction Co. Ltd. (UVARCL) is poised to pick up RCom and its unit Reliance Telecom's assets – the proposal is pending before the NCLT, Reliance Jio has received the bankruptcy court nod for its plan to take over RCom tower unit Reliance Infratel.

ET Telecom

WHY MR.K.M.BIRLA IS KEEPING THE VODAFONE IDEA SHARE PRICE SUPPRESSED EVEN BELOW RIGHT ISSUE PRICE OF RS.12.50 /- SHARE.I GOT THE ANSWER AT MONEYCONTROL.COM AS PER GOOD ANALYSIS DONE BY ONE OF THE SMALLRETAIL INVESTORS.HE WRITE UP IS BEING PRODUCED HERE.

 

EXTRACTS FROM MONEYCONTROL MEMBERS MESSAGE BOARD (AS IT IS).

WRITTEN BY 

By Tradeanalyze

 

Let me share my view about what KMB might be planning to make his shareholding equal to Vodafone in VI. Vodafone's total holding in VI is around 1236 crore shares. KMBs total holding in VI is 835 crore shares. 

The difference between the promoters is 401 crore shares. If KMB want to equalize his holdings with Vodafone in VI then he should allot another 401 crore VI shares to him. That might be the plan from promoters. That is why Vodafone already announced that they will not take part in the coming fund infusion. So that KMB only can participate and allot 401 crore shares in the form of preferential allotment. In that scenario the total promoters shareholding will reach 75% in VI overall. 

Both promoters will have equal holdings. So KMB wont need to buy from Vodafone with higher price to equalize his holdings. This is all preplanned that is why they have set the right issue share price at very deep discount. This is the main reason why promoters are holding the share price at dirty cheap rate for a long time. Investors should understand this clearly. So in my opinion KMB can maximum allot 401 crore shares only. Vodafone wont allow anything more than that. 

The question here is what might be the preferential rate that KMB might infuse his fund for this 401 crore shares. In my opinion Vodafone wont allow him to infuse the rate lower than Rs 17.5. So he might infuse the fund for Rs 17.5 to Rs 20 per share. Promoters will release their pressing only after the fund infusion and equalize their holdings. One might think why cant KMB buy the shares from open market to equalize his holdings with Vodafone. If he does that then the promoters holding will reach 86% which will violate the SEBI rule that promoters should hold 75% only. 

This will be the game plan from KMB. I hope this will end hopefully before March 2021. After that VI will reach its original valuation quickly. This is purely my analysis based on my own research. 

Happy days will come soon. Stay invested and be calm form couple of years to ripe the bigger benefits

MR.MUKESH AMBANI :-WHY YOUR OLD AND WELL FED PET D.GS AT TRAI (TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA) NOT COMING FORWARD TO SAVE YOUR JIO TOWERS IN PUNJAB. ???? THANK GOD THAT RELIANCE JIO FAVOURITE MR.R.S.SHARMA (MR.RAM SEVAK SHARMA OR MR.RELIANCE SEWAK SHARMA IS OUT WELL IN TIME AND REPLACED BY A BETTER AND IMPARTIAL CHAIRMAN MR. P.D.VAGHELA.

Venting their ire against billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance group, which is perceived as a beneficiary of the recently-enacted farm laws, farmers and their kin in Punjab have allegedly damaged hundreds of Reliance Jio mobile towers so far, with more than 176 signal transmitting sites being vandalised in 24 hours on Sunday alone.

In the last three days, the number of mobile towers damaged has doubled. On December 25, the number of towers damaged was 700. Within three days, the number has increased to 1,504, as per media reports. 200 mobile towers are reportedly being damaged on a daily basis in the state despite an appeal to the protesting farmers by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to not indulge in such vandalism. On Monday, he even asked police to take strict action against those who damage mobile towers in the state.

Incidents of snapping of power lines to attempts to axe the towers have been reported from different parts of Punjab. Site managers are reportedly slapped and abused for trying to persuade protestors from damaging sites.

There are around 9,000 towers of Jio in Punjab. For some towers, the fibre has been cut by such groups. Some bundles of Jio's fibre cable have been burnt in Jalandhar, while videos of Jio employees being threatened and forced to flee have been widely circulated on social media.

The vandalism of mobile towers has impacted telecom services across the state, especially Reliance Jio.

The farmers’ unions have, however, distanced themselves from the vandalism and have appealed to the protesters to stay away from such acts that cause inconvenience to the masses.

The farmers protesting against the new farm laws had given a call on December 9 for boycotting products of Reliance Industries and Adani Group, as reported earlier by National Herald, when farmers’ leaders had rejected a proposal sent by the government offering a written assurance on minimum support prices (MSP). The union leaders had said farmers across the nation would boycott all products of Adani Ltd and Reliance Industries Limited, including the highly-used Jio mobile SIM cards.

Source National Herald for write-up only. Heading is based on general public reaction

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea may get DoT relief on penalties By: FE Bureau | December 27, 2020 6:15 AM In fact, before the matter was sent to Trai for a review, a seven-member internal committee of DoT had rejected by 4:3 the regulator's recommendation to levy the penalty and had left the final decision to the DCC.

 

As a licensor the power to levy fines and or cancel licences lie with the DCC which may seek recommendations from the Trai, but in this case it was not so.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) is likely to finally reject the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) recommendation to levy a cumulative penalty of Rs 3,050 crore on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for not providing points of interconnection to Reliance Jio in 2016 when it had commenced operations.

Officials told FE that the view has gained currency that the time is not conducive for burdening the operators with financial penalty as they are financially stretched and have to pay their adjusted gross revenue dues. Further, since the government has now announced that the next round of auctions will be held in March, it doesn’t want to take any action upsetting operators which may constrain them from participating in the auctions. Since a new chairman has taken charge at Trai, there is also feeling that the regulator will not feel slighted and issue can be safely buried.

Though on the insistence of the Trai, the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), the apex decision-making body of the department of telecommunications, had approved the penalty in July last year, the matter has still not got the approval of the telecom minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad. The DoT also feels that if the demand notices raised, Bharti and Vodafone Idea are sure to challenge it in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), and the government is not keen at this stage to enmesh itself in yet another legal tussle.

Officials said the DCC had tried its best to get the matter sorted by asking the Trai to review the amount as the sector was under financial stress, but, unfortunately, the regulator stuck to its guns. In fact, before the matter was sent to Trai for a review, a seven-member internal committee of DoT had rejected by 4:3 the regulator’s recommendation to levy the penalty and had left the final decision to the DCC.

To be sure, even a year back the DCC could have ignored the Trai’s recommendation and gone ahead with either scrapping the penalty or lowering the amount. This is because the Trai does not have powers to levy fines. It had suo motu issued the recommendation to the DoT based on a complaint by Reliance Jio. As a licensor the power to levy fines and or cancel licences lie with the DCC which may seek recommendations from the Trai, but in this case it was not so.

In October 2016, Trai had recommended that a fine of Rs 50 crore be levied on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone each in 21 circles, while a similar amount be levied on Idea Cellular in 19 circles. Thus the penalty for Bharti and Vodafone was Rs 1,050 each, while for Idea it was Rs 950 crore. In August 2018, Vodafone and Idea merged and was christened Vodafone Idea.

The Trai had recommended fines after it had issued show-cause notices to the three operators towards end-September 2016 after finding high level of congestion in their networks, leading to call failures made to and from Jio network beyond the permissible limits.

The three incumbent companies in their defense had said that there is a 90-day period since the commercial launch of services by an operator for providing the demanded points of interconnect and they conformed to this deadline. They said it was unfair of Trai to monitor congestion levels on a daily basis and recommend a fine. Ideally, it should have measured congestion on a monthly basis, where the results would have been different.

The quality of service norms prescribe that congestion level should not exceed beyond 0.5%, which means that of 1,000 calls not more than five should fail. The congestion level is different from call drops. In the former a call does not get connected whereas in the latter a call drops after it is connected. For call drop, the failure should not be more than 2%.

The regulator has no powers to levy penalty on the operators who do not follow its directive. The maximum it can do is to chargesheet them in a civil court.

1,500 Mobile Towers Damaged In Punjab Amid Farmers' Protests, CM Amarind...

Arbitration panel cites PM, minister's assertion on retro tax to overturn Cairn tax demand :-ET

 

New Delhi: A three-member tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague cited statements by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers pledging not to use retrospective taxation to overturn a Rs 10,247 crore tax demand on British oil and gas company Cairn Energy Plc.

The tribunal, in a 582-page judgment on December 21, ordered return of the value of shares that the Income Tax Department sold as also the dividend it seized and tax refunds it withheld to recover tax demand that was levied following the 2012 amendment to the Income Tax Act that gave authorities powers to seek taxes on past deals.

It ruled that the 2006 reorganisation of Cairn Energy's India business prior to listing on local bourses was not "unlawful tax avoidance" and ordered tax authorities to drop the tax demand.

In the order, the tribunal, which consisted of one member appointed by the Indian government, said the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 2014 "election manifesto criticised the preceding government for having unleashed 'tax terrorism' and 'uncertainty', which 'negatively impact[ed] the investment climate'."

In his first budget speech in July 2014, the new Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, proposed that a CBDT-supervised 'High Level Committee' be implemented to scrutinise fresh cases that had arisen following the 2012 Amendments.

After stating that, "[t]his government will not ordinarily bring about any change retrospectively which creates a fresh liability", he announced that "henceforth, all fresh cases arising out of the retrospective amendments of 2012 in respect of indirect transfers and coming to the notice of the Assessing Officers will be scrutinized by a High Level Committee to be constituted by the CBDT before any action is initiated in such cases," the order said.

On November 7, 2014, Jaitley, according to the order, insisted that his government had taken a "policy decision that as far as this government is concerned [...] even though there is a sovereign power of retrospective taxation, we are not going to exercise that power".

On January 13, 2015, Jaitley was quoted as saying that the 2012 Amendment had "scared away investors from India" and that "the government had no intention of using the retrospective tax provision"."This view was confirmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 14, 2016. The Prime Minister was quoted in the Financial Times as saying that the government "will not resort to retrospective taxation; we are making our tax regime transparent, stable and predictable", the tribunal said.

The Income Tax Department in 2015 slapped a Rs 10,247 crore tax demand on Cairn for alleged capital gains it made in the 2006 business reorganisation. Cairn denied the scheme, avoided any tax that were prevalent on that date and challenged the demand through an arbitration.

During the pendency of the arbitration, the government sold Cairn's near 5 per cent holding in Vedanta NSE 8.24 % Ltd, seized dividends totalling Rs 1,140 crore due to it from those shareholdings and set off a Rs 1,590-crore tax refund against the demand.

The tribunal ordered the government to return the value of shares it had sold, dividends seized and tax refunds withheld to recover the tax demand along with interest. Also, it was asked to reimburse the cost of arbitration. All this totalled to USD 1.25 billion plus interest.

The government in response to the arbitration award had stated that it will study the order and "will consider all options and take a decision on the further course of action, including legal remedies before appropriate fora".

This is the second loss the government has suffered in three months over the retrospective levy of taxes. In September, UK's Vodafone Group won an international arbitration against the demand of Rs 22,100 crore in taxes.

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/arbitration-panel-cites-pm-ministers-assertion-on-retro-tax-to-overturn-cairn-tax-demand/articleshow/79974864.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Govt extends validity of vehicle documents like DL, RC, permits till Mar 31

 The move is in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic

Topics

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways | Cars | two wheelers

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi Last Updated at December 27, 2020 16:27 IST

The union transport ministry on Sunday extended the validity of motor vehicle documents like driving licence (DL), registration certificate (RC) and permits till March 31, 2021, in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had earlier issued advisories dated March 30, 2020, June 9, 2020 and August 24, 2020 in connection with extension of validity of documents related to Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.

"The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has extended the validity of vehicular documents like DLs, RCs, permits etc till March 31, 2021 in the light of need to prevent spread of COVID-19. Ministry has today issued a directory to the states and Union Territory administrations in the regard," a MoRTH statement said.

Earlier through various notifications, it was advised that the validity of fitness, permit (all types), licence, registration or any other concerned document(s) may be treated to be valid till December 31, 2020.

The latest advisory says, "Taking into consideration the need to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is further advised that the validity of all of the above referred documents may be treated to be valid till March 31, 2021. This covers all documents whose validity has expired since 1st February, 2020 or would expire by March 31, 2021."

Enforcement authorities are advised to treat such documents valid till March 31, 2021, the MoRTH said, adding that "this will help out citizens in availing transport related services, while maintaining social distancing".

"All the states and union territories have been requested to implement this advisory in letter and spirit so that the citizens, the transporters and various other organisations which are operating under this difficult time during the COVID-19 pandemic may not get harassed or face difficulties," the statement said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

 

Vodafone retro tax case: All you need to know ET

 

TRANSACTION

• MAY, 2007: Vodafone acquired stake in Hutchison Essar for $11.2 bn.
• Vodafone International Holdings BV bought the stake of Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd in Hutchison Essar
• Deal between companies based overseas; executed in Cayman Islands
• 
  
• TAX TROUBLE
  • OCT 30, 2009: Income tax dept served notice to Vodafone International Holdings
  • Notice under Sections 201 and 201 (1A) of the Income Tax Act for non-deduction of tax at source on the $11.2 bn transaction
  • OCT 30, 2010: IT Dept ordered Vodafone to furnish Rs 11,218 cr under Sections 201 and 201(1A).
  • APR 29, 2011: Rs 7,900 cr penalty was imposed
  
  
  LITIGATION
  • SEPT 8, 2010: The 
  • Bombay High Court upheld the tax authorities decision. Dept raised tax demand in the subsequent month
  • JAN 20, 2012: SC set aside Bombay High Court decision; quashed tax & interest demand
  • It said transaction was between two overseas entities & Indian tax authorities had no territorial tax jurisdiction
  • FEB 17, 2012: Govt filed review petition
  • MAR 20, 2012: SC dismissed the review petition
  • THE RETRO AMENDMENT
  • 2012 Indian govt amended the Income Tax Act retrospectively
  • Section 119 of the Finance Act validated the tax levied on Vodafone
  • Government said the amendment was only a clarification to remove ambiguity and provide certainty
  • 
    
    TAX DEMAND BACK ON TABLE
    • JAN 3, 2013: IT dept raised a fresh demand was issued for Rs 11,218 cr
    • Vodafone subsequently sought to settle the case
    • A committee set up to resolve the issue failed to make any headway
    
    
    ARBITRATION
    • APR 2014: Vodafone served arbitration notices under the India-Netherlands treaty
    • New government did not roll back demand but said no fresh action under 
    • retrospective tax
    • A fresh demand was issued on February 12, 2016, for Rs 22,100 cr tax
    • SEPT 25, 2020: The Hague-based arbitration court ruled in favour of Vodafone
    • DEC 21, 2020: India challenges arbitration award at Singapore
    
    
    
    Read more at:
    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/vodafone-retro-tax-case-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/79950372.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
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India becomes sixth nation to manufacture high-power electric locos locally The French firm Alstom won the contract worth €3.5 billion to supply 800 fully electric super-powered double-section locomotives of 12,000 HP for Indian Railways. MONEYCONTROL NEWS DECEMBER 22, 2020 / 11:19 PM IST

 

                                                   WAG-12B locomotive manufactured by Alstrom.

Indian Railways has completed five years of awarding the contract to French multinational rolling stock manufacturer Alstom for manufacturing high-speed electric locomotives.

The French firm won the contract worth €3.5 billion to supply 800 fully electric super-powered double-section locomotives of 12,000 HP for Indian Railways. These locos are capable of hauling approximately 6,000 tonnes at a top speed of 120 kmph.

Indian Railways is planning to deploy these locomotives on major freight routes, including the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs), reported LiveMint.

The first WAG 12B e-loco was inducted for commercial services in May 2020 after it received certification from the Ministry of Railways and Commissioner of Railway Safety/RDSO in 2020. Till now, the French firm has delivered 50 such e-locos to the Indian Railways and the two locos have covered close to 2 million kilometres on the railway network.

India has become the 6th country in the world to join the club of countries producing high horsepower locomotives indigenously with these powerful e-locos being manufactured within the nation. Two ultramodern maintenance depots in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur and Maharashtra's Nagpur are also on the way.

The WAG 12B locos manufactured at Madhepura have 12,000 horsepower with a twin Bo-Bo design and are built to carry 6,000 tonnes of goods in one go at twice as faster than regular locomotives. Also, these locomotives are equipped with Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT)-based propulsion technology. Apart from this, heat and noise reduction are another aspect of these locomotives.

"Alstom is proud to partner in India’s growth story. Today, as we look back at an eventful five-year journey, it gives me immense pride to state that we have made progress across a spectrum of spheres – technological, infrastructural and socio economic – alike," the report quoted Alstom India and South Asia MD Alain Spohr as saying.

Earlier, a joint venture was signed between Alstom and Indian Railways with 74:24 equity, under which India's largest integrated greenfield manufacturing facilities at Bohar's Madhepura was set up. The contract includes associated maintenance of the e-locos for over a period of 13 years.

Also, Alstom will deliver 75 units in FY 20/21 and 100 units annually starting next fiscal under the contract from its 250 acres manufacturing unit in Madhepura unit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 10, 2018, had flagged off the first e-loco from the Madhepura facility.

The Saharanpur depot is currently operational, which has a ‘Training Centre’ with a loco simulator and smart classrooms for skill development of railway employees and loco pilots. Till now, over 500 loco pilots from Indian Railways have been trained.

"This joint venture, the largest FDI project for Indian Railways, has only strengthened our spirit to employ world-class technology for a safer, faster and more carbon-efficient service. As we continue to strengthen the Indo-French partnership, we hope to see our collaborations bring real-time impacts on the lives of the people," the business daily quoted Ambassador of France to India Emmanuel Lenain as saying.

Vodafone Idea: GoldenTree, PIMCO join Oak Hill-led consortium for $2 bn funding talks US-based GoldenTree Asset Management and Pacific Investment Management Co (PIMCO) have likely joined a consortium led by investment firm Oak Hill Advisors, which is in discussions to provide a $2 billion (Rs 14,720 crore) credit line to Vodafone Idea, three people aware of the matter said.:-ETTelecom

 Kolkata | Mumbai | New Delhi: US-based GoldenTree Asset Management and Pacific Investment Management Co (PIMCO) have likely joined a consortium led by investment firm Oak Hill Advisors, which is in discussions to provide a $2 billion (Rs 14,720 crore) credit line to Vodafone Idea, three people aware of the matter said.

The move to expand the global lender consortium is aimed at quickly filling up Vi’s sizeable funding requirement and also distributing the risk exposure across a larger pool of financiers, one of the people told ET.

The proposed funding model is likely to be a blend of convertible instruments, comprising bonds and warrants with a linked equity option that will allow the consortium members to turn a portion of the debt into shares of the company, bankers and industry executives with knowledge of the matter said.

The lossmaking telecom joint venture, co-owned by UK’s Vodafone Group and India’s AV Birla Group, needs funds urgently to ramp up its 4G operations, arrest a steady loss of subscribers to rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, and clear its substantial backlog of statutory dues to the government.

The telco had in September announced a Rs25,000 crore fundraising plan via a mix of debt and equity. The $2 billion credit line it is negotiating with the consortium is part of that plan.

The Vodafone Group declined to comment, while GoldenTree, PIMCO, Oak Hill, Vi and the AV Birla Group did not reply to ET’s queries till press time Sunday.

The expanded consortium, it is learnt, is at an advanced stage of wrapping up due-diligence and assessing the tax implications for the overseas lenders, and is on track to formalising the final funding terms that could lead to a binding term-sheet by mid-January. A binding contract, typically, gets drawn up once all parties involved reach an agreement on details laid out in the term sheet.

Read also

Airtel, Vodafone Idea may need to spend 5-10% more on network gear if Huawei, ZTE left out

Top 2 telcos consolidating market share; Vodafone Idea likely to lose RMS: Report

Last month, ET reported that Sixth Street, Twin Point Capital and Varde Partners were among the global investors in the Oak Hill Advisors-led consortium that had already submitted a non-binding term sheet to Vi.

Vi’s recent rebranding move has concretised its business continuity plans, but industry insiders close to the lenders said this needed to be backed with a much stronger on-ground 4G network and products and services comparable with its rivals.

Vi’s leadership recently said the telco’s stated plans to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore had elicited a strong response from a host of global funds, and was likely to be concluded soon. The telco still has more than Rs 50,000 crore of adjusted gross revenue dues payable to the government over 10 annual instalments through March 31, 2031.

Mumbai-based InCred Capital and its US investment banking partner PJT Partners are known to be helping Vi in its efforts to raise funds.

Industry executives said the funds were likely to be disbursed in tranches linked to the company meeting stiff, periodic business targets on operating income, subscriber growth, average revenue per user and revenue market share fronts.

Vi recently raised prices of two postpaid family plans by about Rs 50 in some circles, with experts saying the telco was testing the waters ahead of a broader price hike, which it desperately needed to shore up finances and underline the industry’s improving fundamentals to potential investors.

Brokerage ICICI Securities expects the next round of tariff hikes to happen latest by March 2021.