DoT likely to add Videocon dues of Rs 2,041 cr to Airtel's AGR bill; may not include Aircel's liabilities in Sunil Mittal-led telco

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) may add a part of the dues of Videocon Telecommunications amounting to Rs 2,041 crore to Bharti Airtel’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) bill, said a news report. Though Airtel had bought spectrum from Aircel, the Sunil Mittal-led telco may not be required to take up any part of Aircel’s liabilities of  Rs 11,950 crore, according to a report in The Economic Times. The views on Airtel’s liabilities are based on the use case of the spectrum it acquired from Videocon and Aircel, the report said quoting government officials. [caption id=“attachment_4265553” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] The DoT has pegged Airtel’s AGR dues at around Rs 35,586 crore, Videocon’s liabilities at 2,041 crore and Aircel’s dues at Rs 11,950 crore. On Monday, Bharti Airtel paid Rs 10,000 crore to the telecom department towards statutory dues . The company said it would make payment of balance amount after a self-assessment exercise. As much as Rs 9,500 crore has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel (including Telenor India which merged with the company), and another Rs 500 crore for Bharti Hexacom. In March 2016, Airtel had bought 25 Mhz of spectrum in the 1800 Mhz band from Videocon in six circles — Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, UP (East) and UP (West) — for Rs 4,428 crore. The aforesaid spectrum is valid up to 18 December 2032. “Bharti Airtel has entered into a definitive agreement with Videocon Telecommunications Ltd (VTL) to acquire, at an aggregate consideration of Rs 4,428 crore, rights to use 2x5 MHz spectrum in 1800 MHz band for six circles,” the company had said then in a BSE filing. In August 2017, Bharti Airtel had acquired the rights to use 20 MHz 2300 Band BWA spectrum of Aircel’s Odisha circle, with which it completed rights to use 4G airwaves of Aircel in seven out of eight circles in the spectrum trading deal between the companies. In April 2016, Bharti Airtel had announced it had entered into a definitive agreement with Aircel to acquire its 4G airwaves in eight circles for Rs 3,500 crore through a spectrum trading deal. With the deal, the company had completed the transaction in 7 out of 8 circles namely Tamil Nadu (including Chennai); Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Assam, North East and Odisha, Airtel had said in a filing to the BSE. — With PTI inputs