Indus Towers , India's leading provider of passive telecom infrastructure, has announced plans to expand its operations into three African countries: Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia. The company's Board of Directors approved this strategic move during a meeting held on September 2, 2025, marking a significant milestone in Indus Towers' growth trajectory.

Leveraging Partnerships for International Growth

The expansion initiative will capitalize on Indus Towers' existing partnership with Bharti Airtel in Africa. This strategic alliance is expected to provide Indus Towers with a strong foundation to establish its presence in these new markets.

Strategic Markets and Growth Potential

Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia have been identified as attractive markets for Indus Towers' international foray. These countries offer promising prospects for revenue diversification, operational scalability, and long-term value creation. The company's decision to enter these specific markets aligns with its broader growth strategy and the potential for expansion in regions where Airtel has an established presence.

Alignment with Government Vision

Indus Towers' international expansion also complements the Indian government's vision of encouraging domestic enterprises to evolve into multinational entities. This move is seen as a step towards enhancing India's global economic footprint.

Management's Perspective

Prachur Sah, Managing Director & CEO of Indus Towers, expressed optimism about the company's new direction, stating, "The Board's approval to enter international markets in Africa unlocks our vision for long-term sustainable growth and value creation for our shareholders. By leveraging our expertise in delivering innovative and cost-effective solutions, we are well-positioned to differentiate ourselves in Africa's fast-growing telecom market and emerge as the preferred tower company."

Regulatory Compliance and Future Disclosures

The company has emphasized that this expansion is subject to necessary approvals and compliance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements. Indus Towers has committed to making further disclosures as material developments occur in this expansion process.

About Indus Towers

Indus Towers is India's largest provider of passive telecom infrastructure, with a portfolio of 251,773 telecom towers across all 22 telecom circles in the country. The company caters to all wireless telecommunication service providers in India and has been a pioneer in adopting green energy initiatives for its operations.

This international expansion marks a new chapter for Indus Towers, as it seeks to leverage its domestic success and expertise in the African telecom infrastructure market. The move is expected to contribute significantly to the company's growth and strengthen its position as a global player in the telecom infrastructure sector.

Indus Towers , India's leading telecom tower infrastructure provider, has reported robust financial results for the first quarter, demonstrating strong growth and operational performance despite challenging weather conditions.

Key Financial Highlights

• Gross revenues increased by 9.1% year-on-year to ₹80.60 billion
• Core rental revenue grew by 10.1% year-on-year to ₹51.10 billion
• EBITDA declined 3.4% year-on-year to ₹43.90 billion
• EBITDA margin stood at 54.5%, down 7.1 percentage points year-on-year

Operational Performance

Indus Towers continued its strong momentum in tower and co-location additions during the quarter:

• Added 2,468 macro towers, bringing the total to 251,800
• Added 5,777 co-locations, increasing the total to 411,200
• Maintained a portfolio tenancy ratio of 1.63
• Expanded solar site count to over 32,000, with 2,250 sites added during the quarter

Network Resilience and Uptime

Despite facing challenging weather conditions, including an early onset of monsoon and increased weather-related disruptions, Indus Towers managed to maintain a high network uptime of 99.96%. This achievement underscores the company's operational excellence and commitment to service quality.

Strategic Initiatives and ESG Focus

The company continued to make progress on its strategic priorities:

• Expanded IBS (In-Building Solutions) deployments, achieving the highest quarterly additions in its history
• Advanced its decarbonization roadmap to achieve near-term targets approved by SBTi
• Launched 'Sankalp', a safety campaign to improve technician safety when working at heights
• Improved gender diversity, with women representation in the workforce increasing to 15.7% from 11.2% in the same period last year

Dividend Policy Update

In a significant move, the Board of Directors has decided to conserve cash in the short term and suspend dividend distribution. This decision will be reassessed by the end of the financial year, taking into account factors such as the evolving industry landscape, customer stability, elevated capex requirements, and potential inorganic growth opportunities.

Management Commentary

Prachur Sah, Managing Director and CEO of Indus Towers, commented on the results: "We are pleased to have started the financial year on a strong note, continuing the momentum built previously. Our operational excellence and customer-centric approach have enabled us to maintain a majority market share in our customers' rollouts, resulting in healthy tower and co-location additions from all our customers."

Vikas Poddar, CFO, added: "It has been a good start to the year, underpinned by healthy co-location additions and notable financial performance. We continue to sharpen our focus on cost efficiency and technology-led transformation, including automation and AI."

Future Outlook

With structural growth drivers firmly in place, including rising data consumption and increasing 5G adoption, Indus Towers remains confident in its ability to deliver sustainable value in an evolving market. The company expects robust tower rollout momentum to continue based on strong order book visibility for the next 4-6 quarters.

Indus Towers' Q1 results demonstrate the company's resilience and ability to deliver growth despite challenges, positioning it well to capitalize on the ongoing digital transformation in India's telecom sector.