When Supreme Court made a decision in favor of the Government, regarding 2G Spectrum dues, most of the smaller telco players filed for bankruptcy.
Some sold their spectrum plus debt to the existing players like Bharti Airtel and Reliance.
Idea and Vodafone merged together but the debt is still very high.
The combined entity called Vi now, hasn’t posted a single profitable quarter yet.
If Vi goes under, about 140-150 million 2G subscribers of Vodafone Idea (Vi) would be affected.
But, one man, his ethics and culture told him not to take the easy way out and filed for bankruptcy.
The man, the owner of Tata Sons, the holding company of the salt-to-steel conglomerate is none other than Mr Ratan Tata.
In 2008, Mr Ratan Tata received the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour in India, after receiving the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour in 2000.
He kept infusing funds in his flagging telco, tata teleservices over the years and now has successfully repaid Rs 60,000 worth of bank debt and government spectrum and other dues.
Tata Sons have now successfully made Tata teleservices a profitable business.
Tata Sons’ net debt is at an 8 year low too. They sold 0.6% in Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) through a block deal today. The deal was worth Rs 9000 crore. TCS shares have appreciated more than 30% this year.
