With this Bharti Airtel became the second telecom operator after
to defer its spectrum payments so far.
The government had till October 29 given operators time to respond on whether they would opt for the four-year payment moratorium. Further, 90 days was given to carriers to respond on whether they would want to opt to convert the accrued interest due to the deferred payments into equity.
Following the development, Bharti Airtel stock rose 0.37 per cent to hit a high of Rs 697 on BSE. At this price, the scrip was off 6 per cent from its September 24 high of Rs 739.10.
Vodafone Idea last week accepted the government’s offer of a four-year moratorium on spectrum payments, a move that analysts estimate may give the cash-strapped telco cash-flow relief of around Rs 60,000 crore.
The source told ET said that while Airtel has confirmed to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) its acceptance of the moratorium, it has not reverted to the equity conversion option yet.
Airtel has previously said it was keen on the payments moratorium as well as the statutory dues to equity conversion. Bharti Airtel chief Sunil Mittal said the company will opt for the four-year moratorium on spectrum and AGR payments, which will help it conserve a cash outgo of Rs 35,000-40,000 crore that would be used for network and other capital expansion programmes.
