Tata Teleservices...

Bankers said they were not worried about Tata Teleservices’ debt service coverage ratio of 0.18 as Tata Sons had always stepped in to pay bank loans. Tata Teleservices’ earnings before interest, tax and depreciation fell to ~1,341 crore in 2016-17 from ~1,700 crore a year ago.

Tata Sons director Ishaat Hussain met the telecom minister along with CEOs of other telecom companies on Thursday seeking a reduction in the financial burden on the industry.

Tata Teleservices’ sale of a part of its stake in tower company Viom Networks for ~2,800 crore helped it meet some of its liabilities last year. Tata Sons was expected to invest another ~2,000 crore in the company in 2017-18, bankers said.

Earlier this month, Reliance Communications received a seven-month loan repayment moratorium. This was after the company informed banks about the sagging financials of the telecom sector since the entry of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio. Reliance Communications also said high spectrum fees, licence charges and finance costs had made the sector unviable.

The industry is also witnessing consolidation with Vodafone and Idea Cellular merging to become India’s largest telecom company.