Vodafone CEO Nick Reed meets Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss AGR dues

Nick Reed, CEO of the Vodafone Group, on Friday called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. He was accompanied by Vodafone Idea MD Ravinder Takkar.

Telecom secretary Anshu Prakash was also present at the meeting.

Reed’s India visit comes ahead of final hearing of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue at the Supreme Court slated for March 17. Vodafone Idea has the maximum AGR dues of Rs 53,000 crore, of which it paid Rs 3,500 crore last month.

Vodafone Idea on Friday submitted its self assessment of statutory dues to the telecom department and said that its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues stand at Rs Rs.21,533 crore as per its calculations.

Earlier this week, the telecom department sent letters to all telcos asking them to submit remaining part of the dues ahead of the apex court hearing.

In a letter to the telecom regulator, VIL asked for a significant hike of mobile data tariff and call charges at 6 paise per minute to be able to improve its balance sheet and pay its AGR dues.