Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are expected to invest about ₹75,000 crore in the current financial year to strengthen their networks, according to a report by JM Financials.
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According to the report, Jio may invest around ₹42,000 crore and Bharti Airtel around ₹33,000 crore in FY24, but the investment will taper down after their 5G network rollout target is met as per their announcement.
"Bharti's management capex guidance implies India business capex could decline to approximately ₹200 billion (₹20,000 crore) from FY25 (versus ₹280 billion, or ₹28,000 crore in FY23) though we continue to conservatively build in approximately ₹270 billion (₹27,000 crore) for FY25 and ₹330 billion (₹33,000 crore) for FY24," the report said.
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As per the report's estimates, Jio's capex may be about ₹42,163 crore in FY24, which may lower to about ₹30,000 crore in FY25.
Jio has announced plans to complete pan-India 5G rollout by December 2023, while Bharti Airtel aims to do the same by March 2024.