'Don't want any company to shut operations': Nirmala Sitharaman on telecom industry stress

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has spoken on the telecom sector crisis saying that they don't want any company to shut operations and everyone to flourish.

The Finance Minister made these statements during a press briefing in New Delhi after major telecom companies Vodafone Idea and Airtel reported huge losses in the September quarter.

Sitharaman also said that a committee of secretaries which was constituted to study the stress in the telecom sector was yet to make a decision.  

Last month, the Supreme Court had allowed the Department of Telecommunications to recover dues worth Rs 1.4 lakh crore from telecom companies including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications (RCom) and Vodafone Idea as it rejected telcos' appeal against AGR.

Vodafone Idea had on Thursday said its loss in the quarter ended September has widened to Rs 50,921 crore after the Supreme Court order on adjusted gross revenue (AGR). The company reported Rs 4,874 crore loss for the same period last year.

The Economic Times reported that this is the highest ever quarterly loss in the history of India Inc. Before this, Tata Motors had posted a loss of Rs 26,961 crore for the December quarter of 2018, the report said.

Vodafone Idea Limited has estimated a liability of Rs 44,150 crore post the apex court order on AGR, and made provision of Rs 25,680 crore in the second quarter this fiscal, PTI reported. 

The company has said it is in the process of filing a review petition on the matter.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel also reported a record loss of Rs 23,045 crore in the quarter ended September 30 after its adjustment of Rs 28,450 crore under exceptional items towards AGR dues.

As per latest estimates by the telecom department, Bharti Airtel faces a liability of around Rs 62,187 crore, while Vodafone Idea may have to pay about Rs 54,184 crore, PTI reported.  

Bharti Airtel's liability includes share of Tata Group of companies and Telenor India. Rest of liability is with state-owned BSNL/MTNL and companies that are no longer in operation.