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Informist, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026

 

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--Indus Towers: Remain committed to reducing diesel consumption 
--CONTEXT: Indus Towers mgmt's comments in post-earnings analyst concall 
--Indus Towers: Committed to cut costs to improve operational efficiency 
--Indus Towers: See tower, tenancy growth continuing on strong order book 
--Indus Towers: Capex may ease after 2-3 years if tower rollouts moderate 
--Indus Towers:Board committed to shrholder returns, dividend decision in Q4 
--Indus Towers: Co certainly bagging major share of new rollouts in market 
--Indus Towers: Current priority in Africa is organic growth 
--Indus Towers: Call on inorganic growth would depend on valuations

 

By Shakshi Jain and Prateem Rohanekar

 

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI – Telecommunications infrastructure provider Indus Towers Ltd.'s capital expenditure is expected to be remain at an increased level for the next 2-3 years on the back of a strong order book, a top company executive told analysts in a post-earnings conference call Tuesday.

 

"We do expect the capex (capital expenditure) to remain elevated for some time," the executive said. "But at some point, I think if you take a two-, three-year view, then at some point we should see some easing there." Indus Towers Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Prachur Sah said that once expansion growth moderates, the capital expenditure will be driven by maintenance and operations.

 

"...capex, apart from towers, also gets spent on when we upgrade a site or when we actually share a site and enable the tower for sharing, and then there is maintenance, because we also have an ageing portfolio and so on," the company's management explained. "Directionally... if the tower rollout slows down, then to that extent, we should see capex easing at some point of time."

 

Indus Towers is a key beneficiary of Vodafone Idea's network expansion and of incremental rollouts by its parent, Bharti Airtel Ltd. In the December quarter, the company net added 3,548 macro towers to take its overall number to 259,622 as of Dec. 31. Macro co-locations for the company increased by 6,105 in the three months to arrive at 421,822 at the end of the quarter. The company also net added 26 lean co-locations in the December quarter.

 

Indus Towers incurred a capital expenditure of INR 19.80 billion in the December quarter against INR 25.59 billion in the trailing quarter. 

 

"...while FY25 was an abnormal year of expansion, but subsequently as well we have continued to add a good amount of portfolio in towers and tenancies and that expectation continues, you know, currently based on the order book," Sah said, adding that he expects the pace of fifth generation network deployment by the company's major customers to continue to gather steam. Sah also said the company is bagging a major share in terms of towers and tenancies from network expansion by its customers.

 

Answering a query on dividend payouts, Sah said the company's board is committed to ensuring returns for its shareholders and is slated to discuss the matter at the end of the current quarter.

 

On the company's foray into Africa, Sah said Indus Towers is establishing a clear country-level execution framework. "In parallel, we are progressing on key work streams, including licensing and regulatory approvals, supply ecosystem finalisation, and operating model suited for local needs," he added. Indus Towers will commence deployment in Africa in a phased and disciplined manner and sees the opportunity on the continent as a long-term growth decision, he said.

 

Indus Towers is currently focused on organic growth in Africa and any decision on inorganic growth opportunities would depend on valuations, the management said. On funding its plans for Africa, the company is likely to tread the debt route. "We have the infrastructure in place in terms of the holding entity, the subsidiaries in each of the countries, and so on...," the management said, adding that whatever capital is required, though it is unlikely to be major, would be funded through debt. "We are yet to decide at what level we will be sort of arranging those debt funding," it said.

 

Overall, the company continues to work towards eliminating wasteful costs to drive operating efficiency, as per the management. Indus Towers is also committed to reducing its diesel consumption by transitioning to cleaner sources of energy, the management said.

 

Tuesday, shares of the company ended 1.6% higher on the National Stock Exchange at INR 438.55.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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