"Jio and Airtel Set to Invest ₹75,000 Crore in Network Upgrades This Fiscal: JM Financials"

In a recent development, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, two of India's leading telecom giants, are gearing up to infuse a substantial investment of approximately ₹75,000 crore into their network infrastructure during the current financial year. This significant investment aims to bolster their networks and enhance service quality, according to a report by JM Financials.

The report further delves into the specifics of these investments, indicating that Reliance Jio is expected to allocate roughly ₹42,000 crore for network strengthening in the fiscal year 2024, while Bharti Airtel is anticipated to invest around ₹33,000 crore during the same period. It is worth noting that these investments are slated to decrease once the companies achieve their 5G network rollout targets, as previously announced.

The report also sheds light on Bharti Airtel's capital expenditure (capex) outlook, suggesting that the company's capex for its India business could witness a decline to approximately ₹20,000 crore starting from the fiscal year 2025. This projection comes in contrast to the ₹28,000 crore capex recorded in fiscal year 2023. However, the report conservatively estimates capex figures of approximately ₹27,000 crore for fiscal year 2025 and ₹33,000 crore for fiscal year 2024.

According to the report's estimations, Reliance Jio's capex is poised to reach approximately ₹42,163 crore in the fiscal year 2024. Subsequently, it is projected to decrease to around ₹30,000 crore in the fiscal year 2025.

Both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have set ambitious targets for the rollout of 5G networks in India. Reliance Jio has announced its intention to complete a nationwide 5G rollout by December 2023, while Bharti Airtel aims to achieve the same milestone by March 2024.

These investments signal a significant commitment from both telecom giants to enhance their infrastructure, expand network coverage, and deliver improved services to their ever-growing customer base in the highly competitive Indian telecom market.

HBL