Sunil Mittal says legal disputes, levies dragging down India’s telecom sector

New Delhi: Long-standing legal disputes and regulatory levies are dragging down the performance of Indian telecom companies who are yet to “emerge out of the woods,” Bharti group chairman Sunil Mittal said.

“While it’s clear that the worst may be behind for India’s telecom industry, we are yet to emerge from the woods. India still has some of the lowest data tariffs globally and the industry is barely able to cover the cost of capital.,” Mittal said in a message to Airtel shareholders in its annual report for FY19-20 released Tuesday. “It requires much more support to repair the deep damage to its finances and make it viable for telecom operators to invest in future technologies.”