Fundraising amid operational challenges:  Following the directives issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Vodafone Idea Limited on Tuesday (April 2) held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) through video conference or other audio-visual means.

The virtual meeting was aimed at securing shareholder approval for a fundraising initiative with the company seeking authorisation to issue securities worth up to Rs 20,000 crore (approximately $2.4 billion).

As per the requirements of the Companies Act, 2013, and the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the company facilitated remote e-voting and e-voting at the EGM.

According to the voting results shared by the company in one of the BSE filings, 99.01 per cent of the investors agreed in favour of the proposal while 0.99 per cent of votes or 420,615,041 votes were cast against the proposal. 

The top leadership of the company has highlighted this fundraising attempt as crucial for Vodafone Idea's future operations.

This strategic move by VIL comes amidst its ongoing financial challenges, including a huge debt burden and subscriber losses in India’s competitive telecom market. The infusion of additional capital holds the potential to address these issues by enabling investments in network infrastructure enhancements, advancements in technologies such as 5G, and potentially facilitating the resolution of outstanding debts.

The shares of the Vodafone Idea are trading at Rs 13.71 with over 2 per cent gains at 02:32 pm on April 3.