Any additional relief for Vodafone Idea (Vi) on its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues will be decided collectively by the Union Cabinet, involving the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Finance Ministry, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar told Moneycontrol.
“See, we have recently converted a lot of their debt into equity. Government has done whatever we thought we could do and at this time we don’t have any discussion or plan to change other than what we have done,” the minister said.
He underlined that the matter is far larger than the remit of any single ministry. “This is not something one person can [decide]. The discussion with the Cabinet, Modi ji, Finance Ministry, Union minister Scindia ji — all of them have to sit together and discuss these things. This is not a small amount of money to be decided by any one individual. At this moment, there is nothing.”
Asked if the PMO had received a proposal from DoT on extending relief to the operator, Sekhar replied: “not that we know of.”
Reports suggest DoT has proposed “multiple relief options” to the PMO, including a fresh two-year moratorium on AGR payments, smaller annual instalments, and waivers on penalties and interest.
Struggling Vi currently owes about ₹83,400 crore in AGR dues, with annual payments of ₹18,000 crore set to resume from March 2026. Overall, its liabilities to the government, including spectrum and other dues, amount to nearly ₹2 trillion. The company has warned that banks remain reluctant to lend in the absence of clarity on statutory dues, raising concerns over its survival.
The government converted ₹53,083 crore of dues into equity in two tranches—February 2023 and April 2024—making it the single largest shareholder with a 49% stake. Despite this, Vi continues to face severe liquidity stress.
On the survival question, the minister said: “That is not up to me to decide… every company, all the companies, are continuously reaching out for various reasons, they will also be continuously reaching. But at this time, the discussion — there is nothing that we have planned.”
The company, which has nearly 198 million subscribers and employs over 18,000 people, owes ₹1,944.5 crore to banks as of June-end.
In a letter dated April 17, Vi urged DoT to treat ₹17,213 crore (the principal amount calculated till FY19) as final and waive 100% of the interest and penalty on AGR dues. Former CEO Akshay Moondra reiterated in the August 18 earnings call that early resolution was essential to unlock bank funding, while also noting that Vi was exploring non-bank financing options to meet capital expenditure needs.
“What the banks are currently looking for is some clarity on the AGR front. So that is where we are engaged with the government, given that the government has made the conversion, they are today the largest stakeholder in the company…whether as an equity holder or any dues which are owed to any external party, we are quite confident that there will be a solution to AGR,” Moondra said.
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