New Delhi: With the Supreme Court-mandated liability pushing telecom companies to the brink, industry honchos Sunil Bharti Mittal and Kumar Mangalam Birla met Wednesday Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as their firms scrambled to meet payment deadlines.
The two refused to comment on discussions they had with Sitharaman. Mittal said the telecom sector has been under stress for the last three-and-a-half years and the government should focus on its sustainability.
Mittal, who heads mobile service major Bharti Airtel, first met Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash before going for the meeting with the finance minister.
Birla, who is the chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd, had met the telecom secretary Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if the two telecom tycoons met Sitharaman together or separately.
Emerging out of the North Block after meeting Sitharaman, Mittal told reporters that the issue of pending dues arising out of the Supreme Court ruling on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) was not discussed. The telecom industry, he said, is vital to India’s digital agenda.
“This industry is very vital to the nation’s digital agenda, and many other industries that ride on it….employment, government taxes…the only thing government needs to focus on is how to ensure sustainiability of the sector,” Mittal said.
Mittal – whose company Bharti Airtel is confronted with over Rs 35,000 crore of statutory dues – did not elaborate on the relief mechanism that the telco is pitching for. The industry as such has been batting for reduction in levies like licence fee and spectrum charges.
Mittal said Airtel has already announced its plans to pay the dues that arose from the apex court ruling. The company is calculating its liability, he said.
Airtel has so far paid Rs 10,000 crore out of its estimated liability of over Rs 35,000 crore. “We have made statement that we are working on the calculation so as soon as it is ready…,” informed Mittal.
Birla refused to comment on whether the company has approached the government for relief on the timelines for the statutory payment, and whether he has received any assurances in return. Asked about the mounting stress in the telecom sector, Birla said, “That is in the public domain…there is no other insight I can add.” On whether it is a do-or-die moment for telecom companies like Vodafone Idea, Birla said, “Let us see.”
PTI