Will withdraw 96 pc of Rs 4 lakh cr AGR related dues raised against PSUs, Centre tells SC

NEW DELHI: The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to withdraw 96 per cent of the Rs 4 lakh crore demand for AGR related dues raised against non-telecom PSUs like GAIL.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that DoT has filed an affidavit explaining the reason for raising the demand of AGR related dues against the PSUs.

DoT sought time from the bench, hearing the matter through video-conferencing, to respond to the affidavits filed by private telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone IdeaNSE -3.08 % Ltd, on payment of their dues based on the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).