Direct-to-home services provider Videocon d2h will invest ₹6,000 crore over the next four years in a bid to scale up its business to allied areas. The company plans to create its own television content, invest in manufacturing of set-top boxes and scale up its mobile TV application.
The company will meet the fund requirements through internal accruals. It had raised about ₹2,000 crore recently through a share listing on Nasdaq. Videocon d2h’s debt stands at ₹2,500 crore as on June.
“We have scaled up the business in the last five years to earn an Ebitda revenue of ₹850 crore. We have a strong balance sheet and little debt,” Saurabh Dhoot, Executive Chairman, Videocon d2h Ltd, told
Dhoot said the company is looking to double its subscriber base from the existing 11.5 million. “Digitisation helps the entire ecosystem as it weeds out the grey market media. We are preparing ourselves for the next phase of growth,” he added. Elaborating on the content creation, Dhoot said it would be targeted at youngsters. “We will be developing exciting content across categories like drama, comedy, among others,” he said, adding that the company may also look at producing films.
Earlier this year, the company had launched ‘Direct to Mobile TV’, an app that makes it possible for Videocon d2h subscribers to watch television channels on their mobile phones. Dhoot said that more investments would be made to scale up this platform.
Videocon d2h commenced operations in July 2009. It competes with players such as Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Tata Sky, Reliance Digital TV, and Sun Direct.