india

Updated: Feb 20, 2020 20:13 IST

Seeking cuts in taxes and levies for the telecom sector amid “unprecedented AGR crisis”, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal on Thursday met union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

After the meeting, the Airtel boss stressed that his telecom giant will make the balance payment ‘expeditiously’ and is committed to complying with the Supreme Court order on adjusted gross revenue dues.

Mittal also highlighted that the surmounting dues, running to the tunes of thousands of crores, under AGR is an unprecedented crisis for the telecom industry.

“AGR is an unprecedented crisis for industry, which is being dealt with by government,” he said.

Mittal further said the industry is heavily taxed and suggested cut in taxes and levies for sector.

Airtel, Mittal said, has time till March 17 to make balance payments, adding that the company will pay its dues “much before that”.

Mittal’s meet with telecom minister comes within 24 hours of a meeting he and Vodafone Idea Ltd chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on late Wednesday evening.

While Airtel has paid Rs 10,000 crore out of its estimated liability of over Rs 35,000 crore, Vodafone Idea is staring at bankruptcy after a Supreme Court order found it and Bharti Airtel as well as other telecom operators found them to be under-reporting their revenues.

Mittal on Wednesday had said the telecom sector has been under stress for the last three-and-a-half years and the government should focus on its sustainability.