Vodafone Idea has decided to hold over an additional Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues of Rs 8,837 crore for a period of four years, and avail of the Government’s four-year prohibition on such payments. The dues concern FY18 and FY19, which were not covered by the Supreme Court’s October 2019 order, under which telecom operators had to pay the dues.
The company said in a regulatory filing that its board approved the decision for availing prohibition on the additional Rs 8,837 crore after the DoT sent a demand notice for FY18 and FY19. Vodafone Idea also said that the amount would be revised after rectification with the DoT.
The company has not decided at this stage whether it would choose the provision of government converting the interest due on the additional amount into equity. Since the amount is less, possibly the company may choose to pay the interest and not go for conversion of equity.
The board also approved the convening of an extraordinary general meeting on July 15, to seek approval of shareholders for the foregoing preferential issue. The promoters of VIL (Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group) had infused Rs 4,500 crore into the company in March. With this infusion, the promoters’ infusion would be to the tune of Rs 4,936 crore.
The company had announced a Rs 25,000 crore fund-raising exercise, of which Rs 5,000 crore will be from the promoters while the remaining Rs 20,000 crore will come from lenders and investors. VIL’s fund-raising efforts have got accelerated as the government is going to soon approve the conversion of its debt into equity in the company.
