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Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Tower growth may hit a plateau as 5G nears completion
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Mumbai: As telecom companies such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel near completion of 5G network expansion and curtail capital expenditure and tower rentals fall, tower companies are likely to see flattish growth in the next five years, with Vodafone Idea 's 5G rollouts and 4G coverage expansion likely to offer short-term support, according to new tower additions fell to 25,000 in 2024-25, the lowest since 2017-18, and are expected to dip further in this financial year, according to data from ICICI Securities. It comes after industry towers saw a deceleration in growth to 3.5% in the previous fiscal after a robust 8.1% annual expansion since additions of 5G BTS, or radios, which constitute a large part of network capex, also nosedived, to 8,000, just into the third year of 5G rollouts, from 141,000 in 2022-23. This indicates a conspicuous drop in 5G capex despite 5G BTS accounting for only 15.8% of the total. In contrast, 4G BTS' plunged after seven-eight years of analysts expect a lull for telecom tower companies in the next five years, as significant tower or BTS additions are likely only when telecom operators buy new spectrum bands to deploy 6G."5G is being deployed only on two spectrum bands - 700MHz and 3300MHz - implying industry BTS/tower should start stabilising," ICICI Securities said in a research report. "In the future, as 4G gets re-farmed, existing 4G spectrums and BTS would be deployed for 5G; therefore, keeping BTS/tower unchanged."Out of the nearly 800,000 telecom towers in India - the second largest in the world after China - about 275,000 are run by Brookfield-backed Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust (formerly Data Infrastructure Trust), which counts telecom market leader Reliance Jio as its largest tenant. Around 250,000 are run by Indus Towers , which is majority owned by the country's second-largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, while other major tower companies include GTL Infrastructure , with 26,000 towers, and Ascend Telecom, with about 18,600 telecom sector capex has materially declined since 2022-23, when 5G rollouts started. While Reliance Jio was most aggressive in the first two years of rollout, Bharti Airtel's capex was calibrated over four years. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea, which has just started its 5G rollout and 5G network expansion, is unlikely to move the needle on tower additions to that extent."After a good rollout by Bharti (Airtel) in last couple of years, we expect Bharti's tower adds to be in the range of 5-8K (down from an estimated 15,000-20,000 in the past two years)," BofA Securities said in a recent report. "We also expect industry tower adds to slow as 5G would require lesser traditional towers/more small cells, even as business from Vodafone Idea will remain strong for next 2-4 quarters."Credit research firm India Ratings has given a weak outlook for tower companies in this fiscal, as tenancies have continued to decline and margins have remained flat. Tower rentals fell sharply to '69,000 per tower per month in 2024-25 from '85,000 in 2021-22, data showed.
Hans India
04-07-2025
- Business
- Hans India
IL&FS taps NCLT doors against Brookfield bid
Mumbai: The Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to scrap the Canadian asset management firm Brookfield's Rs1,080-crore bid for its flagship BandraKurla Complex property. IL&FS filed a petition in NCLT Mumbai bench on June 26, seeking to dismiss the Brookfield-backed bid for its flagship BKC property, the IL&FS Financial Centre (TIFC), citing bidder disqualification and non-compliance with bidding conditions. In its petition, IL&FS alleged that an affiliate of Brookfield, Chronos Properties, was required to maintain Performance Guarantee until the execution of definitive agreements. Chronos Properties failed to renew a Rs108-crore Performance Guarantee, which expired in April, 2025, IL&FS said in the petition, adding that this entitles IL&FS to invoke the performance guarantees in addition to pursue remedies including disqualifying the bidder. 'The failure to maintain its bid security has extinguished any entitlement to proceed with the acquisition. The company has, therefore, urged the NCLT to declare Chronos' application infructuous and dismiss it,' said the petition. IL&FS has emphasised that 'value maximisation' is an important tenets for the public interest board's mandate under the court-supervised resolution process and approved resolution framework and sought Brookfield to revise its offer in line with the updated valuation, as per the filing with NCLT shoring resolution progress, the petition added.
Time of India
04-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
IL&FS moves tribunal to scrap BKC HQ office sale
MUMBAI: IL&FS has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) urging dismissal of a petition filed by Brookfield-backed Chronos Properties, the top bidder for its BKC headquarters, IL&FS Financial Centre. IL&FS has argued that Chronos's Rs 1,080-crore bid has become "infructuous" following a breach of key deal terms, specifically the failure to renew a mandatory performance guarantee. The dispute revolves around an application filed by Chronos and arises out of the larger resolution proceedings initiated by govt against IL&FS and its group companies. The sale process began in 2020, when Brookfield affiliate Project Holdings Seven submitted an expression of interest and later nominated Chronos to complete the transaction. A letter of intent (LOI) was signed in March 2022, backed by demand drafts worth Rs 108 crore as performance security. However, IL&FS contends that Chronos failed to renew these drafts before their expiry on April 16 and 17, 2025, violating a clause which mandates a 15-day buffer before expiration. IL&FS maintains that this lapse automatically disqualifies Chromos and invalidates the letter of intent. The company also claims Chronos was aware of the clause, having previously renewed the guarantee multiple times. The dispute escalated in Aug 2024, when IL&FS issued an amended letter of intent seeking a revised consideration of Rs 1,296 crore, citing updated fair market valuation. Chronos responded by filing an application seeking a stay on IL&FS's move and a freeze on any third-party sale. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
The Hindu
03-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
IL&FS moves NCLT to cancel Brookfield's bid to buy its headquarters in BKC
Scam-hit Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. (IL&FS) has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking to cancel the sale agreement for its headquarters in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) to Brookfield-backed Chronos Properties Pvt. Ltd. (CPPL). The latter had agreed to acquire the prime property for ₹1,080 crore and had provided performance guarantees of ₹108 crore for the same. Citing non-compliance of bidding terms and conditions, IL&FS stated that CPPL had failed to renew the performance guarantees, which was contractually required to remain valid until until signing of definitive agreement. The performance guarantees had expired on April 16 and 17, 2025 and the agreement has become invalid since then. The property is now valued at about ₹2,000 crore and finding a new buyer would financially benefit IL&FS.
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Business Standard
03-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
IL&FS moves NCLT to scrap Brookfield's Rs 1,080-cr bid for BKC property
The Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to scrap the Canadian asset management firm Brookfield's Rs 1,080-crore bid for its flagship Bandra Kurla Complex property. IL&FS filed a petition in NCLT Mumbai bench on June 26, seeking to dismiss the Brookfield-backed bid for its flagship BKC property, the IL&FS Financial Centre (TIFC), citing bidder disqualification and non-compliance with bidding conditions. In its petition, IL&FS alleged that an affiliate of Brookfield, Chronos Properties, was required to maintain Performance Guarantee until the execution of definitive agreements. Chronos Properties failed to renew a Rs 108-crore Performance Guarantee, which expired in April, 2025, IL&FS said in the petition, adding that this entitles IL&FS to invoke the performance guarantees in addition to pursue remedies including disqualifying the bidder. "The failure to maintain its bid security has extinguished any entitlement to proceed with the acquisition. The company has, therefore, urged the NCLT to declare Chronos' application infructuous and dismiss it," said the petition. IL&FS has emphasised that 'value maximisation' is an important tenets for the public interest board's mandate under the court-supervised resolution process and approved resolution framework and sought Brookfield to revise its offer in line with the updated valuation, as per the filing with NCLT shoring resolution progress, the petition added. IL&FS further stated that its new board has till date discharged a total debt of Rs 45,000 crore, while maintaining the overall debt resolution target at Rs 61,000 crore.
