With massive Rs 1.47 lakh crore of AGR dues pushing telecom firms to the brink, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said the central bank is "very closely monitoring" the fallout of the crisis on lenders by way of a default, if any, by telecom players.
Payment of adjusted gross revenue dues of Rs 1.20 lakh crore by telcos will reduce the fiscal deficit for 2019-20 to 3.5 per cent of the GDP from the revised estimate of 3.8 per cent of the GDP, economists at SBI said on Monday. However, one will have to wait till March 16 - the payment deadline - before the picture gets clear, they said.
Vodafone Idea and Tata Group on Monday made part payment of about Rs 2,500 crore and over Rs 2,190 crore, respectively, to the telecom department towards statutory dues.
The Supreme Court Monday rejected telecom firm Vodafone's proposal to pay Rs 2,500 crore by the end of the day and Rs 1,000 crore by Friday against Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues, while also refusing its plea that no coercive action be taken against it.
Airtel on Monday paid Rs 9,500 crore and Rs 500 crore on behalf of Bharti Hexacom Ltd. to the Department of Telecom towards adjusted gross revenue (AGR), the company has said in a statement. Telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Tele are jointly liable to pay dues of over Rs 1 lakh crore.
The three companies are jointly liable to pay dues of over Rs 1 lakh crore, but they have informed the Department of Telecom (DoT) of making only partial payment, as per their representatives.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Saturday said the central bank will have internal discussions in case there are any issues arising out of the Supreme Court order regarding adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues to be paid by telecom companies.
As the sword of Damocles hangs over Vodafone Idea, uncertainty continues to mire the Indian telecom sector which has seen fall of several telcos such as Etisalat DB, Reliance Communications, Sistema Shyam and Aircel. As the sword of Damocles hangs over Vodafone Idea, uncertainty continues to mire the Indian telecom sector which has seen fall of several telcos such as Etisalat DB, Reliance Communications, Sistema Shyam and Aircel.
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