On Friday, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Telecom Minister, declared in the Rajya Sabha that the government is inspecting the proposals from three telecom companies determined to select for converting interest on the deferred spectrum and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues into equity.
The three telecom companies under the reform packages are Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL), Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL), and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd (TTML). They suggested to convert their interest liabilities that are payable to the government into equity.
The minister stated that a one-time choice was laid in front of the telecom companies to either pay the upfront interest on AGR dues or change it into equity instead of that as part of the structural reforms declared in September last year.
He shared this during the question hour session to a question if, in Vodafone, a private telecom firm, the government has any equity.
He also stated that this one-time choice was laid to the telecom companies to confirm that the government’s revenue is not compromised. The minister said that the three telecom companies have utilized this option and have received their letters and are being examined.
He added that the reason behind this option was that despite having a big growth in the telecom sector, they have been facing many tough challenges for many years because of which the balance sheet of many companies is not showing any good results.
K J Alphons, BJP leader, protested in the House that in the heart of the capital city and even in Kerala, his home state, he was having low phone connectivity. The minister requested him to file a complaint before TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), which has created a cell to look into the matter.
Sujeet Kumar, a BJD member, appealed to speed up the Bharatnet project in the KVK (Krishi Vighyan Kendras) districts of Odisha. The minister responded that across the country and mainly in areas that are not connected, the central government has spotted 7000 new telecom sites.
Approximately 3933 sites were spotted in Odisha. The minister requested the BJD leader to approach the state government to instantly spot the sites for the installation of towers.
He also added that the state government has executed the Bharatnet project, and is not all contented in Odisha.
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