A day after Vi (Vodafone Idea) decided to turn interest rates into government levies, its chief executive on Wednesday said the government had made it clear that it did not want to run telco, adding that existing promoters were fully committed to managing and running the company.
Vodafone Idea on Tuesday announced its decision to convert around Rs. 16,000 crore interest to be paid to the government in equity, which will be approximately 35.8 percent of the company’s shares.
If the program continues, the government will become a major shareholder in a company struggling under a debt of Rs. 1.95 lakh crore.
Vi Managing Director and CEO Ravinder Takkar told reporters at a public forum that there is no provision in the Telecom Department's letter on equity transformation options, which allow for government seats. The existing promoters are fully committed to managing and operating the company's operations, he said
“In all our dealings with the government up to this package and even after the announcement of this plan it became clear that the government does not want to run the company, they have no desire to take over. They want three independent players in the market, they don't want to be two or over-dominated, "said the CEO of Vi.
The government has "made it clear that it wants the company's promoters to take it forward," he said, adding that Vi expects there to be no change in their situation.
Takkar went on to say that he expects the whole process to be completed in the coming months.
Regarding the reason for the decision, the Vi manager said that since most of the state's telco debt was "clear that converting another debt into equity was a good way for the company to reduce its debt. Forward".
Since the average price of a company's shares in relation to a due date was less than the estimated value, shares of shares will be awarded to the government at a cost of Rs 10 per share, he explains.
After the reversal, Vodafone Group's shareholding in the company will decline to about 28.5 percent, while Aditya Birla Group will decrease by about 17.8 percent.