Telecom company Vodafone Idea has suffered a strong setback. The Department of Telecommunications i.e. DOT asked the company to submit a bank guarantee of Rs 6,090.7 crore for the reduction in the total payment made for the spectrum acquired in 2015 or deposited cash of Rs 5,493.2 crore. According to PTI news, the company said that however, the company is discussing with DOT to pay the outstanding amount through equity.
The company said this
Himanshu Kapania, a non-executive director of Vodafone Idea, said on Thursday that the total payment made by the company for every spectrum auction is more than the proportional use of the spectrum except the 2015 auction, where there was a partial shortage and the Department of Telecommunications or So requested to provide a bank guarantee of 60,907 million rupees (Rs 6,090.7 crore) for a year or to pay cash payments of 54,932 million rupees (Rs 5,493.2 crore) by 10 March 2025.
Group’s total outstanding
According to the news, by 2024, the group’s outstanding loan from banks is Rs 2,345. The total outstanding amount of the group is more than Rs 2.27 lakh crore. Kapania said that the company is constantly discussing with the Department of Telecommunications and has requested to extract a solution for this need envisaged in Telecom Correction Package 2021. Vodafone Idea (VIL) is responsible for paying a loan of Rs 1,200 crore from banks and Rs 2,188.6 crore as spectrum dues by 31 December 2025.
Will be converted into equity
Spectrum -related installments and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) installments which are payable during FY 2026 and the 2015 spectrum auction reduction is Rs 32,723.5 crore. Kapania said that if there is any shortage of payment to the government, then the company hopes that it will be converted into equity. The government is the largest single shareholder in Vodafone Idea with 23.15 percent stake as of 31 December 2024. The promoter of Vodafone Idea – Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group – holds 14.76 percent and 22.56 percent in the company respectively.
Vodafone Idea reduced the deficit to 6,609 during the December quarter on Tuesday. Inf Revenue from operations 11,117 during the quarter. It was Rs 3 crore, which is 4 percent higher than the same period last year.
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