Punjab National Bank (PNB) has an exposure of around Rs 300 crore in Vodafone Idea (Vi) and is not interested in any further lending to the telecom operator at present, the bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ashok Chandra, told ETBFSI on Monday during the bank’s Q3 FY26 earnings call, according to a report dated January 20, 2026.
“PNB has Rs 300 crore exposure to Vodafone, and as of now, we have not explored any further exposure in this particular account,” Chandra was quoted as saying.
In its Q3 disclosures, Punjab National Bank highlighted a calibrated approach to corporate lending, with incremental growth driven by better-rated borrowers and tighter risk filters.
The bank also aims to increase the retail, agriculture and MSME (RAM) share in advances from the current 56.7 per cent to 60 per cent. Earlier also, PNB had reportedly declined Vodafone Idea’s request for fresh lending.
The Government has frozen AGR dues of Vodafone Idea (Vi) at ₹87,695 crore, which the struggling company has to start paying from the 2031-32 fiscal year and clear by 2040-41. In addition to this, the Government has given six years time to Vi to clear AGR dues pertaining to 2017-18 and 2018-19 from 2025-26 to 2030-31 without any change.
VI, in a letter to the DoT earlier this year, said its liabilities to the government are to the tune of about ₹2 lakh crore, which includes ₹1.19 lakh crore towards spectrum dues. The company said in case of no support, the Centre will face significant direct monetary loss with no recovery of spectrum dues, equity value of ₹53,083 crore becoming nil, and no recovery of AGR dues.
The annual liabilities of VI were more than double its annual operational cash generation, which has been in the range of ₹8,400-9,200 crore for the last three years.
