Shares of Vodafone Idea Ltd were trading at Rs 4.21 up by 11.36 per cent at the S&P BSE Sensex during Thursday’s intraday trade at 12.31 p.m. after British telecom giant Vodafone Plc said it has advanced infusion of USD 200 million (about Rs 1,530 crore) in its Indian joint venture with Aditya Birla Group, that is facing a humongous liability of past statutory dues.
At the NSE Nifty50, the scrips were trading up by 11.39 per cent at Rs 4.40.
Earlier in the day, the company’s scrip advanced 14.89 per cent to Rs 4.55 on the BSE.
Similar trends were witnessed on at the National Stock Exchange, it climbed 13.92 per cent to Rs 4.50.
Vodafone Group, in a statement, said it has “accelerated this payment to provide Vodafone Idea with liquidity to manage its operations, and to support approximately 300 million Indian citizens who are Vodafone Idea customers as well as the thousands of Vodafone Idea employees during this phase of emergency health measures, taken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Vodafone Group announces that it has accelerated payment of USD 200 million to Vodafone Idea, which was due in September 2020 under the terms of the contingent liability mechanism with Vodafone Idea,” the statement said.
The group said that following the decision by India’s Supreme Court on the definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) in October 2019, India’s telecoms operators became liable for licence fees, penalties and interest dating back over 14 years.
“Vodafone Idea has made payments to the government of India in relation to its AGR liabilities. Under the terms of CLM, Vodafone Group is obliged to make payments to Vodafone Idea where amounts paid pursuant to the contingent liabilities of Vodafone Idea exceeded those of Idea Cellular. The CLM took effect at completion of the merger of Vodafone India and Idea cellular in August, 2018,” the company said.