Vodafone Idea to amend shareholders' pact to retain promoter control despite government's 49% stake
Debt-laden Vodafone Idea Ltd (Vi) said on Friday that its board has approved changes to the shareholders' agreement to allow promoters —
Aditya Birla Group
and
Vodafone Group
— to retain governance and management rights, even as the Indian government's stake in the company has risen to 48.99%.
The proposed amendment, approved during a board meeting on May 2, seeks to revise the "Qualifying Threshold" from 13% to 10% and, crucially, to exclude the government's equity from this calculation for governance purposes, news agency PTI reported.
"The Board of Directors at its meeting held today i.e. on 2 May 2025 have inter-alia resolved to... amend certain clauses of the Shareholders' Agreement... so as to modify, amongst others, the 'Qualifying Threshold' from 13 per cent to 10 per cent and, solely for this purpose, to disregard the equity shares originally issued to the Government of India," Vodafone Idea said in a regulatory filing.
The company will seek shareholder approval for these amendments at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) scheduled for June 3.
Following the government's approval to convert dues worth Rs 36,950 crore into equity, its shareholding rose from 22.6% to 48.99%. Meanwhile, Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group now hold 9.5% and 16.07% respectively.
Under the existing shareholder agreement, promoters retained governance rights as long as they collectively held at least 13% of equity.
The revised pact aims to ensure that promoters can continue appointing directors and key executives, even after dilution of their stake.
Vi's total debt rose to Rs 2.17 lakh crore in the December 2024 quarter, compared to Rs 2.03 lakh crore a year earlier. Of this, Rs 2.14 lakh crore is owed to the government, and Rs 2,300 crore to banks and financial institutions.
This restructuring move is seen as a critical step in maintaining operational continuity and strategic direction under promoter leadership despite the government emerging as the single largest shareholder.
Stay informed with the latest
business
news, updates on
bank holidays
and
public holidays
.
AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
38 minutes ago
- Time of India
RBI rate cut to support growth; when credit offtake rises, so will deposits: Axis Bank CEO Amitabh Chaudhry
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Geopolitical tensions will not impact India 's growth story, and with a rate cut, credit demand will increase, said Amitabh Chaudhry , managing director and CEO of Axis Bank . In an interview with Saloni Shukla and Sangita Mehta, he said the entry of well-capitalised Japanese banks should not be a concern, and that while some individuals of the new generation would want to be on the investment side, new entrepreneurs will emerge. Edited excerpts:Global economic growth is the weakest since the big recession. It is being driven by the tariff war and geopolitical tensions, which is resulting in uncertain policies. The investment climate has been aggravated and consumer confidence is at a lower level because people, when they see volatility they tend to postpone purchases. India is much less impacted by some of these global factors, and I think our key relationships across the world are working in our quite a few families, the new generation wants to be on the investment side and have professionals manage the business. If you are on the investment side, you become a bit cautious on the business side. But new entrepreneurs will come in and replace them over a period. So, I am not worried that in some business groups, the newer generation is not necessarily involved in the business. If they stop growing, someone will come and replace them. I don't think that we lack entrepreneurs and lack the hunger every sector, several new players have come over a period and created businesses out of nothing, and they are very large businesses. Indian entrepreneurship is a very strong capital is long-term, signalling strong confidence in India's growth. From a competition perspective, they'e investing in small institutions — how these evolve remains to be seen. India is not an easy country to run a business in. I am not saying from a negative perspective. But to be able to grow extremely rapidly — much faster than what all of us are doing — is not going to be an easy thing to do. RBI lowered interest rates rapidly, signalling that it supports growth. In the next couple of quarters, it should feed through on the GDP growth side. As credit picks up, hopefully the growth projections will be upped a little bit this year. When credit growth comes back, deposit growth will also come 70% of our loans are floating rate loans, which are linked to repo. There will be a negative impact on NIMs to start with, but interest rates (will) come off on the deposit side. Over a 12-month cycle, the margin should come back up. ( Axis Bank NIM for FY25 is at 3.98%).Banks are chasing deposits, as credit growth depends on deposit growth. With government funds parked at RBI and more money flowing into mutual funds, while it remains as a deposit in the system, it is coming to the banking system at a higher cost. Asset growth must follow deposit private capex is finally picking up, with projected investments of Rs 1.25-1.35 lakh crore —70% in infrastructure. But the environment remains uncertain and volatile. While some large groups are investing heavily in infra, most are cautious, opting for incremental investments. The problem is volatility, the bankruptcy Bill, the fact that I could lose my business, the fact that in this environment should I put large bucks (in business) as I did in the past is what they need to be cognizant and deposit growth rates have now converged, as sustained divergence wasn't feasible. Deposit growth is expected at 11-13% in FY26. Wholesale credit demand is driven by five or six large business groups; smaller players aren't investing at scale. Retail growth may return as the cycle stabilises and consumption picks up, with some banks signalling a Bank is a bit cautious, as risk-taking demands clarity, real growth numbers which will impress you, I would say it is still a couple of quarters 3-4 years, our growth matched ICICI's; only in the last 2-4 quarters have they outpaced us. Our higher loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR), shaped by LCR norms and RBI's worry that banks are growing fast, limited our pace. To reduce LDR, we had to sharply cut incremental lending. ICICI benefited from a stronger salary account base in a depositconstrained market. We've strengthened acquisitions, deepened relationships and integrated Citi to boost our deposit franchise.: As per its growth plans, Axis Finance is looking to raise Rs 3,000 crore. We are in no position to infuse further capital because that is the commitment we have made to RBI. We have no option but to go to the market and try to raise the capital. We are running a process right now for that. With their rapid growth, they'll soon hit the upper-layer (NBFC) limits, so we'll follow all rules and decide on listing or stake sales when the time we'll consider the right opportunity. Typically, companies we like are overpriced, while affordable ones have issues. For MFI businesses, caution is key — they're entrepreneur-built and ambition is not reduced; it has not gone away. We have created a platform which can win. We are saying we can't just become number two overnight. But there are businesses we have in mind where we want to continue to improve our position as number one or number two. And as that share increases, automatically the gap between us and the second player will reduce. It's a long way to been some misunderstanding around the audit changes. Our former chief audit officer was a well-regarded banker, not a lifelong auditor. He got an opportunity internally within the bank. His replacement, an audit expert, joined but soon felt overwhelmed due to personal issues. He quickly admitted the mismatch, and we acted fast he exited within 10 days to avoid speculation. As for Rajiv Anand (deputy managing director), he had planned to retire. Some external opportunities may now be in play, but he has agreed to stay on as chairman of Axis Max Life , signalling continued association with the group
Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Time of India
Compensation to families affected by Vizhinjam port work
T'puram: State govt has provided compensation for 15 families whose livelihoods were impacted by construction of Vizhinjam port. The govt-run Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL) in charge of developing the port and surrounding areas distributed total Rs 43 lakh to these families which included catamaran workers and fishing related load workers. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now VISL managing director Divya S Iyer distributed the compensation on Saturday. Compensation to the tune of Rs 114.73 crore was distributed so far to 2,940 families since the beginning of the project. The fisherfolk and those working in fishing related allied jobs were identified as impacted by the project. TNN
Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Time of India
Genpact clarifies 9-hour workday amid employee concern
Bengaluru: Amid online backlash over reports of a 10-hour workday, Genpact has clarified to TOI that it follows a 9-hour workday—not 10, as previously speculated. Genpact, however, declined to clarify additional details on the policy and didn't respond to TOI's emailed queries. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Meanwhile, Accenture has officially extended its workday from 8 to 9 hours for its corporate function (marketing, HR and other functions) effective June 1. However, Accenture's work week is capped at 45 hours a week aligned with all the state government's policies. Infosys requires employees to clock in for 9 hours and 15 minutes each day, while HCL follows a standard 9-hour workday. The 10-hour workday has reignited conversations around work-life balance, productivity expectations, and incentive models within India's IT sectors. Sanketh Chengappa KG, director and business head – professional staffing, Adecco India, said, "Under Indian labour regulations, the standard workweek is capped at 48 hours, with any additional hours qualifying for overtime compensation at double the regular rate. While these provisions are not always stringently applied to white-collar roles, the recent push toward extended working hours has reignited critical discourse around employee rights, mental well-being, and equitable remuneration, particularly when productivity benchmarks are already being met. " Krishna Vij, business head at Teamlease Digital, said, across the tech industry, there is a noticeable shift toward extended work hours, tighter timelines, and evolving boundaries between work and personal time. "While some organizations view this to enhance flexibility and drive productivity, there are also growing conversations around the need to manage workload, maintain employee well-being, and ensure sustainable performance. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now " Recently, the Karnataka government has proposed labour reforms that would extend daily working hours to 10, while keeping the weekly cap at 48 hours. Last year, Karnataka labour minister Santhosh Lad stated that the state government was facing pressure from the IT industry to enact legislation permitting software professionals to work up to 14 hours a day.
