If govt doesn’t give relief to telcos like Vodafone Idea, it could lose over Rs 2 lakh crore

It is not clear whether Vodafone global CEO Nick dialing back his comments a day after he made them is related to some government assurance on Vodafone Idea’s liabilities, but if any relief is being planned, this is because over Rs 2 lakh crore of dues to government over the next decade are at risk. Put another way, if the government doesn’t provide any relief on payments due to the Supreme Court’s AGR verdict that will cost the industry Rs 1.3 lakh crore, it will end up being one of the biggest losers; the AGR problem, keep in mind, would have been contained but for government inaction over the past decade (Read More). The loss to the government could even be more if you take into account the fact that both industry revenues as well as demand for spectrum will be a lot more muted than it was some years ago when the industry was in better health. Government revenues from the sector fell from Rs 70,241 crore in FY17 to Rs 39,345 crore in FY19; the biggest fall in revenues took place because of the fact that there were no new auctions in 2017, 2018 or 2019 as the industry was cash-strapped.