C M Y K C M Y K VODAFONE VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2020 - 2021 - 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Vodafone Idea Limited (formerly Idea Cellular Limited) Suman Tower, Plot No. 18, Sector - 11, Gandhinagar - 382 011, Gujarat www.vodafoneidea.com THE CHAIRMAN’S LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS Dear Shareholder, The COVID-19 pandemic has touched every aspect of our lives across the world. It has altered mindsets, perceptions, and strategies for businesses and beyond. If there is one abiding lesson, it is that sustainable growth and development involves holistic nurturing of human, natural, and financial capital. 2020 is a year that will only gain in significance when viewed through the perspective lens of time. Global Economy The world has been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year now, and the struggle has had deleterious economic effects. In 2020-21, the global economy contracted by 3.3%, the largest contraction on record, at least since World War II. Much of it was concentrated in the first half of our fiscal year FY21, as several countries enforced strict lockdowns. Economies bounced back – albeit at differentiated speeds – in subsequent quarters, on the back of large fiscal stimulus packages, especially in the developed countries, restocking demand after dilution of lockdowns, and improved confidence levels following the start of vaccination programmes. As per the recent forecasts from International Monetary Fund (IMF), the US and China are expected to record a strong recovery in 2021, resulting in a net positive expansion of their economies over the 2019 levels. These two engines of growth are expected to boost demand for exports from other countries. Even the other two large economies, the EU and Japan, are expected to expand. In response to the pandemic, central banks resorted to strongly supportive monetary policies in most developed economies, causing interest rates to go down to record lows. At the same time, another consequence of this policy has been a surfeit of liquidity. That has led to a strong rally in prices of many industrial commodities, which has also been supported by the evolving economic recovery, stimulus-related demand expectations and certain supply-side disruptions. This has caused inflationary pressures on the cost dynamic of several manufacturing industries. The latest IMF forecast suggests a strong 6% growth in global GDP in 2021. But the occurrence of second and third waves of COVID in different parts of the world and reports of virus mutations have created downside risks to the outlook of a strong growth rebound. Recovery remains uneven and uncertain, with the extent of fiscal support and level of vaccination being key differentiators of the short-term economic outlook across countries. Indian Economy Indian economy, which was firmly on the path of recovery in the second half of FY21, was hit by a rather unexpectedly virulent second wave of COVID-19. That caused a severe strain on healthcare facilities in many parts of the country, leading to localized lockdowns and a fall in mobility to levels seen a year ago. This may lead to some reassessment of growth estimates for FY22. As a silver lining, disruptions to production and supply chains have been far less severe during the second wave than during the first wave. Vaccinations are picking up pace, which would support faster normalization of mobility levels and of related economic activities. Continued accommodative monetary policy of the RBI and the expected increase in capex from the Government are factors that will support growth recovery. In addition, global growth prospects provide us with exports as an additional strong driver of growth. The longer-term prospects for the Indian economy continue to be robust. Various initiatives, including privatization of public sector enterprises, monetization of assets, implementation of National Infrastructure Pipeline, targeted investment incentives through the Production-Linked Incentives Scheme and the new Labour Code, are likely to spur a virtuous cycle of investments and growth in the medium-term. Your Company’s Performance The merger of Vodafone India into your Company effective from August 31, 2018 led to the creation of Vodafone Idea Limited, a partnership between two strong promoters, Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group. Post-merger, your Company is one of the leading telecommunication operators in India offering voice, data, business services and other Value-Added Services (“VAS”), including Short Messaging Services, digital services, IoT etc. As of March 31, 2021, the subscriber base of your Company stands at 255.7 Mn (on VLR) with subscriber market share at 25.7%. Through the course of FY21, the operating environment continued to remain challenging due to unsustainable pricing and hyper competition which were further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Your Company played a critical role providing uninterrupted connectivity to millions of people enabling them to work, study, transact, interact, and get the daily dose of entertainment from the safety of their homes. While the operating challenges remain, increasing digital penetration which has got a further boost during the pandemic, remains a massive opportunity for telecom industry especially when the pricing revives in future. Increasing content consumption, especially through video, and social media usage is driving strong demand for high-speed internet. Your Company with strong spectrum portfolio, large network investments in the form of network sites and optical fiber, wide distribution reach and strong customer affinity is very well positioned to benefit from this trend. During FY20, your Company had successfully completed the integration exercise and fully realized the targeted synergies at a record pace in comparison with any global mergers, especially given the size, scale and complexity of the integration. Your Company’s primary focus in FY21 has been on focused network investments to ensure superior customer experience. Your Company has expanded its 4G population coverage to over 1 billion and significantly improved its capacity. Your Company’s relentless pursuit to have the best 4G network, through integration and incremental network investments post-merger, is clearly visible through the top rankings across various third-party reports on both data and voice. As per Ookla, the global leader in Internet Performance Testing, Vi GIGAnet 4G network remained the fastest 4G network in the country for 3 consecutive quarters (from Q2FY21 to Q4FY21). Your Company also had the highest rated voice quality in the country as per TRAI’s “MyCall” app data for 6 months consecutively between November 2020 and April 2021. Your Company continues to focus on driving 4G penetration to increase ARPU. Your Company launched the new unifiedbrand on September 07, 2020, which leverages on the legacy of two of the most loved brands of the country - and . Your Company has also been focusing on digital-first approach digitizing all customer touchpoints as well as distribution channel. Further, your Company remains focused on strengthening its position on business services, especially the new and fast-growing segment of IoT and cloud services. Your Company continues to focus on its platform capabilities to offer deeper integration with its partners for a differentiated experience, create monetization opportunities and truly become an integrated digital service provider. Your Company has also undertaken cost optimization exercise to achieve ` 40 billion additional annualized cost savings, of which it has achieved 65% on a run rate basis by the end of FY21. All these initiatives will improve revenue and profitability and subsequently strengthen your Company’s overall competitive position in the market. Outlook Your Company continues to focus on execution of its stated strategy. Your Company has made significant 4G investments and continues to expand its coverage and capacity further. All the ongoing strategic initiatives will ensure that your Company will continue to provide the best of customer experience to retail and enterprise customers and help in creating an agile and future-fit organization. These have been challenging times for the country. Going forward, your Company hopes that COVID related disruptions will be behind us due to the ongoing vaccination drive and the economic activities continue to pick-up in the coming months. Your Company is well aware of its duty and the critical role it plays to keep the nation connected and it remains committed to help its employees, customers, vendors and all the partners in every way possible. Your Company will keep striving to provide uninterrupted services while maintaining exceptional quality of services. This is a difficult phase for the Vodafone Idea family as well. The Supreme Court vide its order dated July 23, 2021, rejected the modification application filed by the Company and other operators, requesting to allow DoT to correct manifest/clerical/arithmetic errors in the computation of AGR demands. Subsequently, on August 10, 2021, the Company has filed a review petition against the order dated July 23, 2021, which is pending for outcome. Your Company is disappointed by the verdict and will take further legal recourse as appropriate. Your Company believes the government recognizes the criticality of the sector and the importance of retaining healthy competition amongst private sector operators. Your Company’s robust wireless digital infrastructure covering 1.2 billion population for mobile telecommunication services has played a key role in nation building and is critical for the country’s Digital India Mission. As the industry continues to remain under unsustainable financial duress, your Company is hopeful that the government will provide the necessary support to address all structural issues faced by the sector. Your Company with a history of providing 25 years of mobile services to the country is hopeful that the government will support its efforts to generate reasonable returns on their massive investments. Therefore, while the Company awaits the final Government’s decision, it will continue to remain focused on providing quality service to the customers and sustain intensity in the market.