Idea Cellular, an unlisted cellular company, will invest over Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) for network capacity expansion and coverage during the current fiscal for eight circles.
"We will invest over Rs 1,200 crore in this fiscal for capacity expansion and coverage for our eight circles. The investment expansion for our new circles which came through Escotel acquisition will be made separately," Vikram Mehami, CEO, Idea Cellular, told newspersons in New Delhi.
"We will be covering extra 100 towns in Uttar Pradesh (W), 50 more towns in Haryana, another 70 towns in Kerala this year," he said. These circles came through its acquisition of Escotel.
Mehami welcomed the government's Budget proposal to raise the foreign direct investment limit in telecom to 74 per cent saying it (FDI) is needed for the growth of the industry. In June, Idea's erstwhile partner AT&T reached a preliminary agreement with Singapore Technologies Telemedia and Telecom Malaysia combine to sell its 33 per cent stake in the company subject to a due diligence by the duo.
"The due diligence by them is complete," Mehami said. He did not disclose the findings of this exercise.
Memhami did not comment on the company's IPO plans.
For the current year, Mehami said the company was targeting roughly 100 per cent growth.