Vodafone Idea defers Rs 8,837 crore AGR dues payment by four years

Vodafone Idea (Vi) has opted for a four year moratorium on payment of Rs 8837 crore in AGR dues in addition to one exercised last year. Similarly, the telecom company has the option to convert interest on deferred amount into additional equity to government.

The government is set to own 33 per cent stake in Vi following an earlier decision to convert interest with net present value of interest worth Rs 16,000 crore into equity.

In a stock exchange notification Vi said that it received a letter from government on June 15 offering four year moratorium for all AGR dues upto financial year 2018-19.

The company's board decided on Wednesday to defer the AGR dues of Rs 8,837 crore. That amount is subject to revision on account of disposal of various representations and final amount has to be paid in six equal instalments after end of moratorium in March 2026.

Vi has to decide on conversion of interest on these AGR dues in 90 days.

Last September the government gave telecom companies an option to defer AGR payments for four years as a part of its telecom reforms package. These covered dues upto 2016-17 which were a part of the Supreme Court order. Vi opted for a moratorium on these dues last October.

According to official data, telecom operators owe over Rs 1.65 trillion to the government in adjusted gross revenue up to financial year 2018-19.

The fresh calculation shows AGR liability on Bharti Airtel was Rs 31,280 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs 59,236.63 crore, Reliance Jio Rs 631 crore, BSNL Rs 16,224 crore, MTNL Rs 5,009.1 crore up to financial year 2018-19.

The company in a separate filing said that its board has approved raising of Rs 436.21 crore from Vodafone Group company Euro Pacific Securities through issue of preferential share at a unit price of Rs 10.2 apiece or warrants at the same price.