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regular-article-logo Thursday, 02 May 2024

Shares of cash-strapped Vodafone Idea surge over 17 per cent

The hike was fuelled by news of the meeting between Kumar Mangalam Birla, Vodafone global head Nick Read, and telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnav

Our Special Correspondent New Delhi Published 03.09.21, 02:54 AM
Representational image.

Representational image. Shutterstock

The shares of cash-strapped Vodafone Idea surged over 17 per cent to close at Rs 7.14 on Thursday on news of the meeting of Aditya Birla Group (ABG) chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Vodafone global head Nick Read with telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Wednesday.

Sources said any reliefs will be for the entire industry and not company specific.

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Birla and Read have reportedly discussed the Vodafone’s plans with Sitharaman even as they pointed out the industry's weak health.

However, it is still unclear whether they have given out any details of capital infusion by Vodafone Idea.

There is a proposal to relax the payment terms of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. Other measures include a reduction in licence fees and increasing the duration of the payment moratorium for spectrum bought in auctions by a further two years.

The implementation of even some of these measures could help the company bring fresh investors.

The telco, which had cash and cash equivalents of only Rs 920 crore as of June end, is facing a debt burden of Rs 1.9 lakh crore. It is staring at Rs 58,254 crore in AGR dues, of which it has paid Rs 7,854 crore.

Vodafone Idea needs to pay around Rs 9,000 crore as part of its next AGR instalment, which is due in March.

Kumar Mangalam Birla had written a letter to the cabinet secretary recently in which he had pressed for a pricing floor, moratorium on spectrum dues and takeover of the operations by the government.

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