Vodafone Idea AGR dues: Here's why telco's shares fell 11% despite likely relief from Cabinet

Vodafone Idea share price

• Vodafone Idea shares fell over 11% despite AGR relief package approval
• Cabinet approved 5-year moratorium, freezing AGR dues worth Rs 87,695 crore.
• Shares dropped as no waiver was announced, only a rescheduling of payments

Did our AI summary help?

The shares of Vodafone Idea (Vi) dropped more than 11 percent on December 31, ending the session and the year 2025 in the red. This came despite the Union Cabinet approving an AGR relief package for the telecom giant.

The AGR relief package was expected to have acted as a positive for the shares of Vodafone Idea, which saw a significant surge recently amid these expectations. However, the shares sharply declined after the news reports of Cabinet’s approval emerged.

Cabinet likely approves Vodafone Idea's AGR relief package:

The Union Cabinet has approved an adjusted gross revenue (AGR) relief package for Vodafone Idea, sources told Moneycontrol. The government has given its nod for a 5-year moratorium on the AGR dues of the telecom giant, they added.

A DoT committee will be formed to give relief to the telco by recalculating and revaluating the AGR dues, including considering interest and penalty reversal if any, the government sources said, adding that the committee may reassess the frozen AGR dues based on audit reports.

The Cabinet approved the freezing of Vodafone Idea's AGR dues worth Rs 87,695 crore, whose payment is now being rescheduled to FY32-FY41, they added. AGR dues of FY18 and FY19 shall be payable by the company over the next five years, the sources said.

Why Vodafone Idea shares fell?

Despite the approval which was expected to act as a positive for the stock, Vodafone Idea shares may have fallen due to no announcement on a possible waiver, as requested by the telco.

"The 5-year moratorium gives the company recovery time. The street anticipated a waiver of some sort, but that has not happened," said Vinit Bolinjkar, head of research at Ventura Securities.

Vodafone Idea has been struggling with dues. The debt-laden operator has repeatedly warned it cannot survive without funding support, as banks remain wary of lending given its financial stress. Vi employs over 18,000 people and has nearly 198 million subscribers.

In September, Vodafone Idea had sought a waiver of penalty and interest on an AGR demand worth Rs 9,450 crore raised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), arguing that much of it pertained to the pre-FY17 period already settled by the apex court in 2020. Out of this amount, Rs 2,774 crore relates to post-merger liabilities of Vodafone Idea, while Rs 5,675 crore pertains to pre-merger dues of the Vodafone Group.

Few weeks ago, the Supreme Court allowed the government to comprehensively reassess and reconcile all dues of the debt-ridden telecom company, including interest and penalties, up to FY17. This was seen as a major relief for the financially stressed operator.

The government became the largest shareholder in Vodafone Idea in March this year after converting dues worth Rs 36,950 crore into equity, taking its stake to nearly 49 percent. Earlier, in 2023, the Centre had picked up a 33 percent stake in lieu of statutory dues exceeding Rs 16,000 crore.

Vodafone Idea share price:

Vodafone Idea shares have fallen around 12 percent in the past five days, but gained over 7 percent in the past one month to close at Rs 10.67 apiece on December 31. The stock gained around 44 percent in the past six months.

The shares of the telecom major rose more than 33 percent in 2025.