VIDEOCON GROUP (VENUGOPAL DHOOT)
One of the leading consumer electronics diversified company is having the bank debt worth Rs. 45,000 crore and is offering only Rs. 9,000 crores worth of assets towards it which is mere 20 percent of the debt. According to the sources, the company had already put for sale its stake in Mozambique Gas Fields worth Rs. 15,000 crore but the gross debt continued to rise @ 10% a year which accumulated to Rs. 45,000 crores while the net debt remained at Rs. 39,000 crores.
According to the sources, the company had sold its spectrum to Bharti Airtel for Rs 4,600 crore in the last month. “If you minus last month’s spectrum sale amount of Rs 4,600 crore which will be paid directly to the banks, then debt still stands at Rs.34,000 crore. To decrease debt further, we will be liquidating assets worth Rs 5,000 crore this year so the net debt of the group will be around Rs 29,000 crore,” Videocon Industries chairman Venugopal Dhoot told The Hindu adding that out of this net debt, Rs.21,000 crore has been taken for oil and gas ventures in Brazil, Indonesia and across the globe, where the group and its partners have discovered oil and gas reserves. So, the domestic debt of around Rs 8,000 crore will be serviced. — NEXT PAGE —
