If the plan goes through, then the government will become one of the biggest shareholders in the company which is reeling under a debt burden of about Rs 1.95 lakh crore.
VIL is in the grip of an existential crisis, and the debt-ridden telco's Q1 earnings and June quarter operational metrics announced on Saturday had left analysts disappointed.
The Supreme Court in its judgement, headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao, had on July 23, had dismissed the petitions filed by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and many other telecom companies and refused their pleas seeking adjustment of AGR demand.
Vodafone Idea board has elected non-executive director Himanshu Kapania as non-executive chairman after Kumar Mangalam Birla stepped down from the said posts, the company said on Wednesday.
The telecom companies had submitted before the apex court that arithmetical errors in the calculation be rectified and there are cases of duplication of entries.
The petition filed by the telco on Thursday said that payments made by the company have not been accounted for in the AGR demands issued by the department.
The Supreme Court's decision to allow telcos to pay outstanding dues over 10 years will not be enough to help Vodafone Idea to stabilise its position, while Jio and Airtel are expected to strengthen their market shares through subscriber gains, Fitch Ratings has said. It further said another tariff hike of at least 20 per cent is probable in the next 12 months.
The Vodafone Idea's stake-sale talks were paused because the outcome of a Supreme Court hearing on staggered payments of government dues was uncertain and could have threatened Vodafone Idea's survival.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed telecom companies to pay Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) charges within a period of ten years. The Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and MR Shah laid down the timeframe within which telecom companies are required to clear their AGR dues in line with the Court's October 2019 judgment.
Vodafone Idea Ltd on Thursday reported widening of net loss to Rs 25,460 crore in the June quarter after it made additional provisioning to pay past statutory dues, and said its ability to continue as going concern hinges on the Supreme Court allowing more time to pay dues.
Vodafone Idea on Saturday said it has paid additional Rs 1,000 crore to the government towards the statutory dues, taking its total payment to an aggregate Rs 7,854 crore.
The planned merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers and additional payment from Vodafone Plc may help crisis-hit Vodafone Idea make part upfront deposit for securing staggered payment of balance AGR dues, if the apex court permits, analysts said.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that DoT has filed an affidavit explaining the reason for raising the demand of AGR related dues against the PSUs.
Bharti Airtel is better placed to offer guarantees for securing staggered payments, if permitted, in the AGR matter where the Supreme Court has asked private telcos for road map on payment, timelines, and the security they can furnish, said analysts while airing mixed views on sustainability of Vodafone Idea.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah raised questions on the demand raised by the government from the PSUs and said that its verdict in the case was misinterpreted as the issue of their dues based on AGR was not dealt with by the apex court.
The Supreme Court will hear the government's rescue plan of giving telcos a 20-year repayment period for AGR dues during the next hearing scheduled after two weeks.
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Group's self-assessment of dues to the government are a whopping Rs 82,300 crore short of what the telecom department calculated after the Supreme Court's ruling on AGR.
Vodafone Idea plunged 40 per cent to Rs 2.91 and Bharti Airtel declined 5 per cent to Rs 431.25 on the BSE. Both the companies erased their early gains and were trading with losses.
In February, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had initiated contempt proceedings against Deshpande who had passed a notification stating no coercive action should be taken against the telecom companies for not sticking to the apex court's stipulated January 23 payment deadline.
The petition said that the Centre is dealing with the telecom service providers and it has found that telcos who are required to make the payments are catering to crores of consumers throughout the country.
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