New Delhi: The outstanding adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of major telecom service providers stood at Rs 1.41 lakh crore as of March 31, 2026, with Vodafone Idea accounting for nearly half the total share, the Parliament was informed on Thursday.
The total outstanding dues stood at Rs 1,40,876.63 crore, of which Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) owed Rs 66,149 crore, followed by Bharti Group at Rs 41,178.58 crore and Tata Group at Rs 16,649.77 crore. MTNL had outstanding dues to the tune of Rs 14,870.39 crore, while Reliance Jio Infocom owed Rs 2,028.89 crore. Government-owned BSNL had no outstanding AGR dues as of March 31, 2026, the Department of Telecommunications said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
Following a Supreme Court mandate, a specialised DoT panel audited the liabilities to correct calculation errors. On April 30, 2026, the government officially slashed Vodafone Idea’s frozen AGR dues from an initial Rs 87,695 crore down to Rs 64,046 crore.
The government said telecom service providers that were not under insolvency or liquidation proceedings were offered a moratorium of up to four years for payment of AGR dues up to financial year 2018-19.
“An option to the licensee to pay the interest amount arising due to the said deferment of payment by way of equity was also provided, while protecting Net Present Value (NPV) subject to compliance with the moratorium’s terms and conditions. Bharti Group, Tata Group and Quadrant Televentures opted for the moratorium but did not opt to convert the interest amount into equity,” the reply said.
For BSNL, AGR dues up to FY25 were fully settled through equity infusion under the BSNL Revival Package, 2022. The government said MTNL’s AGR dues have been decided to be realised from asset monetisation proceeds.
The government also clarified that it had not acquired equity in other telecom operators as part of the AGR relief measures.
“Other than Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL), BSNL and MTNL as detailed above, no investment was made or equity stake was acquired by the government in any other Telecom Service Provider on account of relief of AGR dues,” the statement added.
Major telecom service providers reported gross revenue of Rs 3.73 lakh crore and AGR of Rs 3.17 lakh crore for the year ended March 2026.
The government noted that the outstanding AGR figures are subject to revision based on representations by telecom service providers, departmental assessments, audit observations, and court cases.
(IANS)
