Sunil Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla meet Finance minister

Bharti Airtel, following the Supreme Court’s adverse verdict on the AGR (adjusted gross revenue) case, has paid Rs 100 billion on an ad-hoc basis.

Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal and Vodafone Idea chief Kumar Mangalam Birla on Wednesday met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to apprise her the current stressed state of affairs in the telecom sector due to huge AGR payment.

A rickshaw puller speaks on his mobile phone as he waits for customers in front of advertisement billboards belonging to telecom companies. (REUTERS)

“We are responding to the Supreme Court judgment on AGR dues. Have made our payments, working to calculate the remaining AGR liability. Telecom industry has seen a lot of stress for the past three years,” Mittal said.

Earlier in the day, Mittal met Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash. Birla had met Prakash on Tuesday.