Indian Government Orders Vodafone's Local JV To Convert Its Dues Worth $2B Into Equity

The Indian government has ordered Vodafone Group Plc's VOD Indian joint venture Vodafone Idea to convert all the interest it owes to the government into equity in the firm.
Vodafone needs to convert capital worth $2 billion into equity, TechCrunch reports.
Vodafone's JV with Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla's conglomerate owed the Indian government about $2 billion for spectrum and other dues.
In 2021, the Indian government approved a rescue package for the debt-ridden telecom firms and reserved rights to convert interest on them into equity later.
In 2022, Vodafone Idea's board approved a plan to give the Indian government a 36% stake in the company. The Indian government was not keen to take charge of the firm's operations during that time, the report adds.
India is the second-largest wireless market, ruled by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel.
Vodafone Idea spent the least among the top three in the government's auction of the 5G spectrum in 2022.
Price Action: VOD shares traded lower by 4.61% at $11.08 on the last check Friday.