Jio, Airtel to invest Rs 75,000 cr on network this fiscal: JM Financials

Jio may invest around Rs 42,000 cr and Bharti Airtel around Rs 33,000 cr in FY24, but the investment will taper down after their 5G network rollout target is met as per their announcement

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are expected to invest about Rs 75,000 crore in the current financial year to strengthen their networks, according to a report by JM Financials.

According to the report, Jio may invest around Rs 42,000 crore and Bharti Airtel around Rs 33,000 crore in FY24, but the investment will taper down after their 5G network rollout target is met as per their announcement.

"Bharti's management capex guidance implies India business capex could decline to approximately Rs 200 billion (Rs 20,000 crore) from FY25 (versus Rs 280 billion, or Rs 28,000 crore in FY23) though we continue to conservatively build in approximately Rs 270 billion (Rs 27,000 crore) for FY25 and Rs 330 billion (Rs 33,000 crore) for FY24," the report said.

As per the report's estimates, Jio's capex may be about Rs 42,163 crore in FY24, which may lower to about Rs 30,000 crore in FY25.

Jio has announced plans to complete pan-India 5G rollout by December 2023, while Bharti Airtel aims to do the same by March 2024.