Vodafone invests highest FDI of Rs 47,700 crore in India

New Delhi: Vodafone India , country’s second largest telecom operator, on Thursday  said that it received an equity infusion of Rs 47,700 crore from its parent company, UK-based Vodafone Group, in the first half of the current fiscal. This equity infusion through foreign direct investment is one of the largest ever FDI infusion in India. The money has been infused at a time when the  industry is gearing up for a massive war following Reliance Jio’s entry.

Also this builds up a war chest for Vodafone for the upcoming spectrum auction where the company may bid for airwaves to further strengthen its 4G footprint which is the new frontier for the telecom industry. “This further manifests Vodafone’s increasing focus and commitment to India,” said Vodafone. The company’s total customer base has touched 200-million mark. “As India’s second largest telecom service provider with 22.5 percent revenue market share, over half of the customers (107 million) come from rural India endorsing Vodafone as the preferred brand in urban India as well as the hinterland,” said Vodafone.

“We are judiciously deploying a portfolio of technologies —2G, 3G, 4G and internet of things (IOT) — to cater to the myriad connectivity needs of our retail and enterprise customers across the country. “We have successfully increased our revenue market share by 0.6 per cent in the first quarter of current fiscal,” said  Sunil Sood, MD and CEO, Vodafone India.