Through equity shares or warrants, Vodafone Group Plc will inject an additional Rs 436 crore into Vodafone Idea (Vi). Wednesday’s board meeting approved the fundraising.

This is the second fund raised by the company in two months after promoters Vodafone Group Plc and Aditya Birla Group infused Rs 4,500 crore. The latest funding comes ahead of an auction of 5G spectrum airwaves.

Vodafone Idea will issue 42.7 million shares or warrants to promoter group entities at an issue price of Rs 10.20 per share, for a total issue price of Rs 436.21 crore, the company said in a notice.

In March, Vi approved a Rs 4,500 crore fundraising campaign involving two promoters. Vodafone Group invested around Rs 3,375 crore, while Aditya Birla Group invested Rs 1,125 crore. However, the company has so far failed to raise capital from outside investors.

The promoter owns 74.99% of Vodafone’s Idea. This will drop to 50% after a 33% stake is issued to the government.
In January, the telco decided to issue shares to the government as it opted to convert interest on deferred debt into equity. This will include the conversion of interest at a net present value of Rs 16,000 crore into government equity. The Department of Telecommunications has confirmed the company’s proposal.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) ‘s stock market regulator has also exempted the government from a public sale to Vi’s shareholders after the share offering. There were media reports last week that the debt conversion would occur two or three weeks before the 5G auction.