Vodafone Idea, Tata Teleservices and Bharti Airtel in focus as centre mulls AGR dues waiver

Shares of telecom companies in Monday's session (January 20) traded with significant gains amid reports that the centre is considering a waiver on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues for telecom companies.

Vodafone Idea shares at around 10:52 am traded higher by over 8 per cent at Rs 9.86 per share on the BSE, while at the day's high it hit levels of 10.48, gaining nearly 15 per cent intraday. The stock has been on run despite the subdued market sentiment and in the past 5 sessions has climbed over 35 per cent- taking today's day high price. 

Similarly shares of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) were up around 12 per cent at Rs 79.43. At the day's high, shares of Tata Tele touched Rs 81.48 apiece on the BSE.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel shares traded with gains of 0.5 per cent at Rs 1,636.2 per share, while its day high price scaled during the day is Rs 1,643.5.

Reportedly, the government is considering a proposal to give 50 per cent discount on the interest on AGR dues and 100 per cent rebate on penalty.  This decision, if taken through, will provide a big relief of as much as Rs 1 lakh crore to telecom companies.

In October 2019, the apex court Supreme Court of India ruled in favour of the Department of Telecom (DoT) and ordered telecom companies to pay adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of Rs 1.47 lakh crore. 

Notably about 75 per cent of the dues comprise interest, penalty and penalty on interest.

Likely relief in AGR dues for telecoms

Company                    Amount

Vodafone Idea            Rs 52,000 crore 
Bharti Airtel                 Rs 38,000 crore
Tata Teleservices      `Rs 14,000 crore