The Vodafone Idea board will hold a meeting on April 6  to take a decision on issuing equity shares or convertible securities on a preferential basis, the company said on April 3.

The debt-ridden telecom provider received shareholder assent for Rs 20,000 crore via security issue at an extraordinary general meeting on April 2.

In a regulatory filing, VIL informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Saturday, 6th April 2024, inter-alia, to consider a proposal for issuance of Equity Shares and / or Convertible Securities on a preferential basis.

As per the filing, the voting results of the EGM were inclined in favour of issuing the securities to an aggregate amount of Rs 20,000 crore, with 99.01 per cent of the votes cast in favour of the resolution.

This comes at a time of VIL’s plans to raise Rs 45,000 crore through a mix of equity and debt to be at par in terms of services provided by rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, and put a hold to the continued loss of subscribers.

VIL is behind Jio and Bharti Airtel by a wide margin in the Indian telecom market, as per TRAI data.

The company in February had approved the raising of Rs 20,000 crore in equity from promoters and other investors by June in a bid to secure funds for strengthening its 4G offerings, and rolling out 5G services. Its rivals Jio have launched these services in October 2022 and March 2023 respectively.

The government holds over 33 per cent stake in VIL, while it holds a debt of Rs 2.1 lakh crore amid mounting quarterly losses and a trailing subscriber base.

VIL lost 15.2 lakh wireless subscribers as per TRAI’s latest data, with its January subscribers at 22.15 crore.

(With PTI Inputs)