From the State Bank of India exploring opportunity to pick up stake in YES Bank to RBI Deputy Governor deciding to step down, Business Standard brings you the top headlines of the day
The demand makes sense, given the huge gap between what the operators, based on their assessment of the dues, are paying as compared with the DoT's demand
Vodafone Idea has has maintained it would not be possible to continue as a going concern without any relief from the government on payment of AGR dues
This was stated in reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday by Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Dhotre
Telecom stocks are likely to remain in focus today as the government on Wednesday asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies to pay remaining AGR dues as per the SC order
And urgent steps to avert a cascading crisis
The telecom department wrote to all the telcos asking them to pay balance dues "without delay" and also submit detailed bifurcation of payments
Bharti Airtel paid Rs 10,000 crore, with Rs 27,740 crore balance remaining, he said, adding Vodafone Idea has paid Rs 3,500 crore and Rs 49,538 crore remained due
On speculations regarding shutting down of Vodafone Idea, Dhotre said no such information is available with the government
Meanwhile, the Department of Telecom is preparing to issue fresh notices to telecom companies asking them how they had calculated their dues linked to AGR
Officials said the amount was not much to have any bearing on the fiscal position
With significant discrepancies cropping up in the AGR math, the industry may be facing a fresh round of dispute
The clauses that are not tenable, if any, could be tackled before signing the agreements to avoid any subsequent dispute
Vodafone Idea's payment in particular assumes significance as the company has been under tremendous financial pressure and is confronted with AGR liabilities of over Rs 53,000 crore
Company uses around 180,000 towers with various vendors
From Tatas making additional AGR payment to why foreign lenders are rushing to invest in Indian retail banking space, here are top 10 headlines of the day
DoT has found discrepancies in the amount paid by the telcos and the sum sought by the government
The move assumes significance as VIL has been under financial pressure and is confronted with AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) liabilities of over Rs 53,000 crore
The DoT is set to write fresh letters to telecom companies questioning them about the variation in AGR dues assessed by firms themselves and its own calculations
A DoT official said that "test checks" of AGR calculation for a sample year would commence shortly and it could be as early as this week at least for large telecom companies