Voda-Idea hits 52-wk low; falls 12% in 2 days as SC dismisses AGR dues plea

Vodafone Idea said that the Hon'ble Supreme Court refused to admit the Writ Petition filed by the company, seeking appropriate relief in the AGR matter.

Shares of Vodafone Idea (Vi) hit a 52-week low of ₹9.46 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Tuesday’s intra-day trade amid heavy volumes. The stock fell below its previous low of ₹9.47 touched on May 9, 2025.

 

In the past two trading days, the stock price of the telecom services provider declined 12 per cent after the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions moved by telecom companies including Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (TTML), seeking a waiver on long-standing adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

 

Vi in an exchange filing on Monday, May 19, 2025, informed that the Hon’ble Supreme Court refused to admit the Writ Petition filed by the company, seeking appropriate relief in the AGR matter.

 

Till 02:58 PM; as many as 827.92 million equity shares of Vi changed hands on the NSE and BSE.

 

In the past one month, Vi has underperformed the market by falling 20 per cent, as compared to 2.4 per cent rise in Nifty 50. In past one year, the stock price of the company more-than-halved or tanked 52 per cent, as against 10 per cent rally in the benchmark index.  ALSO READ | How to trade Vodafone Idea, Airtel, TTML after SC dismisses AGR dues plea?

 

The telcos were looking for relief related to payment of interest, penalty, and interest on penalty components as part of their AGR dues.

 

According to a Business Standard report, experts believe the latest ruling could have severe implications for the already struggling Vi. The telco had recently said it would not be able to survive beyond FY26 without relief. It could even be staring at insolvency, analysts suggested. Referring to the court observation on government help, officials at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) pointed out that it was unlikely for the government to pick up any more stakes in Vi.

 

On March 29, 2025, Government of India (GoI) exercised the option of converting part of Vi’s spectrum dues totalling to ₹36,950 crore maturing in FY26, FY27 and FY28 into equity. Post conversion, GoI emerged as the single largest public shareholder in Vi with stake of 48.99 per cent as on April 10, 2025, while the management control continues with the existing promoters- Vodafone UK group (VGP) and Aditya Birla group (ABG). 

 

CARE Ratings expects GoI to extend continued relief to Vi in the near to medium term to facilitate its business revival. In a bid to revive Vi’s business, CareEdge Ratings expects GoI to extend continued relief to Vi in the near to medium term. Thus, timely and continued support from GoI is key rating sensitivity.

 

After the latest conversion of spectrum dues into equity, the overall deferred payment obligations towards spectrum and AGR have been reduced to ₹19,000 crore for FY2026, ₹23,000 crore for FY2027 and ₹32,000 crore for FY2028. These annual payments include around ₹16,500 crore of AGR dues for which the company is in discussions with the GoI for some payment relief. A timely support from the GoI remains a key credit monitorable, according to ICRA. The rating agency expects the GoI support to continue that shall help Vi manage the AGR payables going forward as well.