Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Group Nick Read met with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday. The top executive was accompanied by Vodafone Idea MD Ravinder Takkar.
Reed’s visit comes ahead of final hearing of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue at the Supreme Court slated for March 17.
Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) has the maximum AGR dues of Rs 53,000 crore, of which it paid Rs 3,500 crore last month.
Later in the day, he will also hold talks with the Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Recently, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has sent letters to all telcos asking them to submit remaining part of the dues ahead of the apex court hearing. However, the VIL has said it won’t be able to meet the dues unless relief is given.
In this regard, the company has written letter to TRAI 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.
Last month, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of VIL, has said that without government relief his company may be forced to shut shop.
Birla also held talks with Sitharaman and Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash over these issues.
(With input from agencies)