With large institutional investors showing interest in FPO of Vodafone Idea, Citi Research (a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc) said the progress in the fund raise combined with potential tariff hike after General Election and possibility of AGR relief (matter pending in Supreme Court), should significantly boost VIL’s cash flows.

Following the recent equity infusion of ₹2,075 crore by promoters, VIL’s board has announced a further public offer of ₹18,000 crore. Completion of the planned ₹45,000 crore fund raise should enable VIL to ramp up network capex and narrow the gap with peers on 4G coverage and 5G rollouts, said the Citi report.

VIL may, however, still face a cash shortfall from the second half of FY26E once the ongoing moratorium on the AGR and spectrum repayments ends, unless the government exercises the option to convert these dues into equity. This remains a key uncertainty from both cash flow and equity dilution perspective, it said.

VI has fixed the price band of ₹10 to ₹11 a share for FPO. Shares of the company are trading up 2 per cent at ₹13.21 at 10.10 am on Monday.

Meanwhile, India-born Rajiv Jain’s investment firm GQG Partners and SBI Mutual Fund plan to invest about ₹6,600 crore in the upcoming ₹18,000 crore FPO.

VI has over 223 million subscribers and a subscriber market share of 19.3 per cent as of last December. Its mobile network reaches over 4,87,000 towns and villages, with broadband services in more than 3,42,200 towns and villages.

Meanwhile, VI aims to enhance Vi Business Plus Mobility service by offering mobile security features to safeguard sensitive data and mitigate cyber threats.

VI is also in the process of developing colocation and IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) services to accelerate digital transformation by simplifying and optimising IT infrastructure management for businesses.

In the company’ s recent concall, Akshaya Moondra, CEO, VIL said enterprise segment is a key area of strength due to long standing relationships and the ability to leverage on Vodafone group experience in various global markets.

“We continue to make progress in line with our stated strategy of transformation from telco to techco on our enterprise offerings,” he added.

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