AGR dues: No direction from govt yet on invoking telcos’ bank guarantees, says SBI chief Rajnish Kumar

State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar on Monday said the government has not yet communicated anything to the country’s largest lender regarding invoking bank guarantees against telecom companies.

According to media reports, the government has been exploring encashing bank guarantees given by operators when they received telecom licences. The reports followed the Supreme Court order pulling up operators for not paying their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

Kumar said SBI has received no direction and is “just waiting” in response to queries on the government invoking bank guarantees of operators. “Nobody wants to kill the sector,” Kumar said in a rushed exchange with reporters on the sidelines of the launch of SBI Foundation and Microsoft’s joint initiative to create job opportunities for youth with disabilities in Mumbai.