Vodafone, Airtel take up AGR issue with telecom minister; brokerages say Vodafone’s growth plans on track

Despite the Supreme Court’s rejection of the curative petition for AGR dues, Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) is hopeful of a resolution of the arithmetical error in the AGR dues calculation and is in fresh talks with the Centre, the company chairman Ravinder Takkar said during a conference call earlier this week. VIL said that its case has strong merit, and dialogue with the government is and has been encouraging. The company is also factoring in Rs 290 billion of government debt – to be converted into equity at the end of the moratorium period, as per the reform package. Meanwhile, VIL is also nearing closure of debt funding of Rs 350 billion (Rs 250 billion loan and Rs 100 billion LC facility) that should help boost capex.