Bankers to discuss impact as Birla offers to give up stake in Voda Idea

A day after news broke that K M Birla had written a letter expressing the Aditya Birla Group’s willingness to hand over its 27 per cent stake in Vodafone Idea (Vi) to the government or a domestic entity, lenders to the firm said they would discuss the implications of the letter and try to find a common solution.

Public sector bankers said they were not worried of Vi defaulting on repayment, and it has been servicing loans regularly. Some issues beyond its control – spectrum payment and adjusted gross revenue dues – have created pressure, which the government is attempting to address, they added.

Echoing this sentiment, Punjab National Bank’s (PNB’s) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer S S Mallikarjuna Rao told the media after quarterly results, that the developments that have taken place in the telecom sector over the previous month were of concern. The bank has a small exposure — a combination credit and bank guarantees to Vi — and does not expect any impact from it, Rao added. However, he did not elaborate on potential meetings of the lenders.

The effort, the bankers said, was to find a way out for the industry as a whole and not for a particular player. Lenders have been kept in loop, and there is no thought about restructuring loans at present, they added.