Sunil Bharti Mittal knocks on govt doors to tackle statutory dues not fully provisioned for

NEW DELHI : Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal on Monday came knocking at the doors of top government officials including Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, over billions of dollars in statutory dues like spectrum and licence fee liability that his and other telcos had not fully provisioned in their accounts.

Sources said Mittal first met Prasad and then Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash, apparently over the liability that arises from the Supreme Court upholding government’s view on how revenues should be calculated for sharing of statutory dues.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, head of Vodafone-Idea Ltd that also has been severely hit by the apex court ruling, was expected to come for meeting but has now sought a different time, they said.