News Mania Desk/ Piyal Chatterjee / 20th September 2024
In order to discuss “recent events,” Vodafone Idea has scheduled an urgent meeting with investors and analysts for September 23. The telecom behemoth made this announcement in a stock exchange filing. The meeting takes place the day after the Supreme Court denied petitions pertaining to the recalculation of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues from a number of telecom providers, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, according to The Economic Times.
The decision is a severe blow to Vodafone Idea, which is already deeply in debt and owes the Indian government thousands of crores in fines and levies. The ruling from the highest court has put the corporation, which is beleaguered by enormous debt, in a more precarious situation.
“Vodafone Idea Ltd will host a conference call with its senior management on Monday, September 23, 2024, from 02.30 pm to 03.00 pm IST to provide updates on recent developments,” the company stated.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, Vodafone Idea shares fell precipitously, falling below Rs 10 and reaching a low of Rs 9.79 on the Bombay Stock Exchange earlier in the day. Even yet, the stock managed to rebound slightly by the end of trading, closing 1% higher at Rs 10.48, even as the BSE Sensex as a whole gained 1,400 points to reach a record high.
Vodafone Idea, a joint venture between Aditya Birla Group of India and Vodafone Plc of the UK, has been struggling financially. The corporation owes the government an astounding Rs 2,03,430 crore as of March 31, 2024, which includes Rs 70,320 crore in AGR obligations and Rs 1,33,110 crore in deferred spectrum payments.
The telecom company had hoped that the court would grant relief for these payments, but it now has to deal with the possibility of more financial instability.
Concerns concerning Vodafone Idea’s continuous attempts to obtain Rs 25,000 crore through debt have also been aroused by the dismissal of the AGR curative application. Reports indicate that the company’s talks with lenders and vendors are still ongoing despite the setback. Sources with knowledge of the situation claim that the business plan submitted to financiers did not incorporate the court’s decision’s conclusion. Lenders’ techno-economic calculations purportedly stayed optimistic and did not take the curative verdict into account.
