India Calling (TT Nov07 p28-31)

Vodafone Group has a centralised treasury that handles all funding, liquidity and financial risk management for the group, with a non-recourse concept where, depending on local requirements, risks and financial markets, a greater proportion of treasury activity is undertaken locally. This concept applies to operating companies in India, Egypt, Turkey and Albania and, for India, means that all operating company debt is raised locally and supported by the business with no explicit support from the shareholders. Surplus cash is not repatriated to the UK other than by way of shareholder distributions. Any hedging is direct with bank counterparties. This was not new to the Indian treasury team, but a longer-term approach to treasury management compared to the previous majority shareholder was.