| | OCTOBER 20238Vedanta Board of Directors has approved a Rs 2,500 crore capital raise via the issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in one or more tranches. Up to 2,50,000 secured, unrated, unlisted, redeemable NCDs with face values of Rs 1 lakh each will be issued by the company."The duly authorized Committee of Directors at its meeting held Sept 22 considered and approved for raising, on a private placement basis, up to 2,50,000 Secured, Unrated, Unlisted, Redeemable, NonConvertible Debentures of face value Rs 1,00,000 each aggregating up to Rs 2,500 crore in one or more tranches," the company said in an exchange filing.According to the company, fundraising is part of its routine refinancing, done in the normal course of business.Vedanta has two separate term loans of Rs 300 crore and Rs 1000 crore due on November 14, 2023, and on March 31, 2024, respectively. The fresh issues of bonds likely meet the capex requirements or repay these terms loans.The fundraise also comes at a time when its parent Vedanta Resources is working round the clock on the redemption of the upcoming $3.2 billion offshore bonds.Vedanta Resources has $1 billion in bonds due in January 2024 at 13.875 percent, $1 billion in bonds due in August 2024 at 6.125 percent, and $1.2 billion in bonds due in March 2025 at 8.95 percent.It proposed extending the bonds' tenure by three years at a bondholders' meeting organised by Standard Chartered Bank and JP Morgan between September 11 and 15 in Singapore and Hong Kong, respectively, ET reported earlier.In August, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Vedanta Resources' outlook to negative, raising concerns about the company's ability to refinance its upcoming liabilities. It had previously warned of a possible downgrade of the offshore bonds if it did not adequately compensate bondholders. For the first time, Apple outpaced Samsung in terms of smartphone export volumes from India, shipping 49 percent of the country's total 12 million shipments in the June quarter, compared to 45 percent for its Korean rival. This demonstrates the Cupertino, California-based company's rapid expansion of domestic manufacturing in the country.According to industry data, Apple, which manufactures iPhones in India through contract manufacturers, experienced a rapid increase in export volumes in the previous year. Its export share increased from nine percent of the roughly 8 million smartphones shipped in Q2 2022 to nearly half of total smartphone exports in Q2 2023, according to industry executives. In the March quarter of this year, India exported approximately 13 million smartphones, which fell to 12 million in the second quarter of 2023. According to data obtained by ET, exports totaled 10 million smartphones in Q1 2022 and 8 million in Q2 2022.To be sure, Apple has been the leading smartphone exporter from India in value terms in the first half of 2023, given that it plays in the premium and super premium segments while Samsung has devices across price bands, say experts. VEDANTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONSENT TO RAISE RS.2,500 CRORE BY ISSUING NON- CONVERTIBLE DEBENTURESAPPLE NOW LARGEST SMARTPHONE EXPORTER IN INDIAIN FOCUSIN FOCUS
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