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Vodafone Idea requests Govt for waiver of Rs 24,700 crore bank guarantee


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Vodafone Idea (VIL), struggling with debt, has approached the Department of Telecom seeking a waiver for a financial bank guarantee (FBG) worth Rs 24,747 crore, which is due for spectrum payment in September 2025, according to sources.

VIL is required to secure the annual installment a year before the payment due date.

“Vodafone Idea has requested a waiver for the FBG worth Rs 24,747 crore, due in September 2025, as per spectrum auction rules. The FBG must be deposited one year in advance,” a source told PTI anonymously.

These payments are for spectrum VIL acquired in auctions before 2022. In 2022, VIL opted for a four-year moratorium on spectrum payments under a government relief package.

The moratorium on spectrum payment obligations from auctions conducted until 2016 ends between October 2025 and September 2026. VIL also opted for a moratorium on AGR payments, ending in March 2026. The company must provide bank guarantees at least 13 months before the end of the relevant moratorium period.

VIL has cited relief based on the spectrum auction rules of 2022 and 2024, which removed the requirement for providing bank guarantees for annual installments.

As of March 31, 2024, VIL owed the government Rs 203,430 crore, including Rs 133,110 crore in deferred spectrum payment obligations and Rs 70,320 crore in AGR liability.

While opting for the moratorium, VIL settled about Rs 16,000 crore in interest by offering equity in the company to the government. The government’s shareholding in VIL decreased from around 33% in 2023 to 23.8% as of March 31, 2024, after the company raised Rs 18,000 crore through a follow-on public offer, Rs 7,000 crore from the promoters between March 2022 and May 2024, and issued preferential shares to vendors to settle their dues.

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