NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has constituted a committee to reassess the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues of telecom service provider Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL). The Minister of State for Communications Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, in a written reply to Parliament, said the committee will comprise a retired Secretary-level officer of the government of India and a representative of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
The committee has been tasked with finalising the reassessment within two months, unless the timeline is extended. The decision of the committee will be final and binding on both the DoT and Vodafone Idea.
The move follows directions from the Supreme Court, which had asked the telecom department to provide relief to the debt-laden Vodafone Idea. As part of the relief measures, the government has frozen VIL’s AGR dues pertaining to the period from FY 2006–07 to FY 2018–19 at ₹87,695 crore as on 31 December 2025, subject to reassessment. This amount excludes AGR dues for FY 2017–18 and FY 2018–19, which have already been finalised by the court. The frozen AGR dues as on 31 December 2025 will also be subject to reassessment by the DoT.
In a stock exchange filing, Vodafone Idea said it will repay its AGR dues in installments until March 2041. The company will pay a maximum of ₹124 crore annually from March 2026 to March 2031, followed by ₹100 crore per year between March 2032 and March 2035. The remaining dues will be repaid in equal annual installments from March 2036 to March 2041. Under the earlier payment schedule, the telco was required to pay nearly ₹18,000 crore by March 2026.
Overall, telecom operators in India owe ₹1,77,915 crore in AGR dues, including interest, as calculated up to 31 December 2025. Vodafone Idea has the highest liability at ₹89,952 crore, followed by Bharti Group at ₹51,091 crore, Tata Group at ₹20,426 crore, MTNL at ₹14,462 crore, and Reliance Jio at ₹1,984 crore.