By Prashant Marathe | 23 May 2025 | EduInvesting

📌 At a Glance

🆕 Credit Rating Assigned:
IND BB+/Stable/IND A4+ by India Ratings (Fitch Group) — Translation: 🚨 Meh

💳 Total Facilities Rated:
₹48,517.9 Cr in bank working capital limits
(Fund-based: ₹14,500 Cr | Non-fund-based: ₹34,017 Cr)

🏛️ Parent: Government of India (owns 90%)

📉 EBITDA (FY24): –₹319 Cr
📊 Net leverage: 36x
🏚️ Delayed dues: ₹222 Cr unpaid statutory dues

💥 Past default history (now cleared) and auditor red flags

🧾 What the Rating Means

BB+ = speculative-grade, borderline junk
A4+ = high risk for short-term liquidity

India Ratings Summary:

• Financials: Weak (recurring EBITDA losses)
• Governance: Weaker (auditor red flags, LODR non-compliance)
• Liquidity: Stretched
• Hope?: Yes, if GoI keeps funding the patient on ICU

🧨 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

✅ The Good

• 🔧 70+ years of execution in telecom & defence
• 📦 ₹1.59 lakh crore order book (BharatNet Phase III, BSNL 4G, ASCON)
• 🛠️ Revival support from GoI: ₹4,157 Cr disbursed, ₹1,072 Cr pending
• 💰 Land monetisation initiated
• 💼 PSU badge means implicit sovereign guarantee

❌ The Bad

• ❌ FY24 Revenue fell to ₹1,263 Cr from ₹1,861 Cr (FY22)
• ❌ EBITDA negative ₹319 Cr
• ❌ 705 debtor days (that’s almost 2 years of waiting to get paid 🤦‍♂️)
• ❌ 97% fund-based credit lines utilised (some overdrawn)

🚨 The Ugly

• 🚫 ₹222 Cr of unpaid statutory dues
• ❗ Auditors refused to give clear opinion in FY24
• ⚠️ Insufficient independent directors — LODR non-compliant
• 📉 Credit rating barely one notch above default territory

🔧 Who Are They Even?

ITI Ltd. (CMP ₹280) is a 1948-born PSU in telecom & defence.

🎯 Customers:

• BSNL
• MTNL
• Ministry of Defence
• Indian Air Force
• BharatNet
• ISRO

📦 Products:

• Smart energy meters
• Telecom gear
• Cloud & data centers
• Solar, electronics manufacturing

🏭 5 factories: Bengaluru, Naini, Rae Bareli, Mankapur, Palakkad
🧪 R&D center in Bengaluru

🧮 Bank Limits Breakdown

🧾 Total Working Capital Access = ₹48,518 Cr

🧨 EduInvesting Take

This is not a growth story, it’s a revival story. One that relies on:

• 🏛️ Government of India’s mercy
• 💰 Advance payments from BSNL/DoT
• 🏚️ Monetisation of land parcels
• 🛠️ Executing ₹1.6 lakh crore worth of projects without tripping

👀 Here’s the bet:

“If GoI keeps funding, the ₹280 CMP may look like a steal.”
“If support dries up, ITI can crash harder than a BSNL dial-up connection.”

💡 “In God We Trust. For ITI, it’s GoI we trust.”

🏷️ Tags

ITI Ltd Credit Rating BB+, India Ratings Report 2025, PSU Telecom Debt Risk, BharatNet Phase 3 Orders, ASCON Project PSU, BSNL 4G Rollout Partner, Revival Package ITI, EduInvesting Defence Infra Stocks, Land Monetisation PSUs, Auditor Red Flags SEBI