Vodafone Idea on 5 May informed the exchanges that its Non-Executive Director Kumar Mangalam Birla has been appointed as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company.
This comes after current Chair Ravinder Takkar’s request to step down from the role was accepted with effect from today, 5 May 2026, according to the release. Takkar will continue as Non-Executive Director of the telecom company, it added.
Notably, Birla’s appointment also comes days after Vodafone Idea received around ₹20,000 crore relief in its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues case. AGR is the revenue base used to calculate licence fees that the telecom operators need to pay the government.
Vi’s AGR dues slashed by 27% to ₹64,046 crore
In a big relief for the Indian government on 30 April slashed Vodafone Idea’s AGR dues by around 27% to ₹64,046 crore and allowed a five-year moratorium on the payments, PTI reported. This came after the Department of Telecom (DoT) formed a committee to reassess statutory dues which were fixed at ₹87,695 crore till last December, it added.
Over 58 crore shares of Vodafone Idea were traded today as the stock jumped close to 8% and extended gains for the second consecutive session following news of the reassessment and reduced AGR dues.
- Vodafone Idea now has 10 years to clear its dues, with the first payment scheduled after five years. Then between FY32-35 (four years) it will have to repay a minimum of ₹100 crore annually, with the remaining set to be paid in six installments annually from FY36-41 (works out to ₹10,608 crore annually), as per the filing.
- Besides this, the telecom major has to make payment of ₹124 crore towards AGR dues pertaining to FY18-19 from March 2026 to March 2031. These dues were not part of the reassessment, the report added.
The Union Cabinet had on December 31 approved a significant relief package for Vodafone Idea, freezing its outstanding AGR dues and granting a five-year moratorium on payment. This was followed by the Supreme Court granting the government permission to undertake reassessment of dues, interest and penalties.
Vodafone Idea’s AGR dispute: Background
The AGR dispute began in 2019, when the SC held that telcos must pay statutory liabilities on AGR, including non-telecom revenue. At the time, DoT pegged Vi’s AGR dues till FY17 at ₹58,254 crore, against the company’s self-assessment estimated which pegged the same at ₹21,500 crore.
In 2020, the SC in its order barred any self-assessment or reassessment, amid discrepancies between DoT’s calculations and operators’ self-assessed dues. In 2025, the apex court agreed to hear curative petitions from Vodafone Idea and other operators after dismissing the pleas in 2024 and allowed the government to make reassessments.
Notably, the government owns a 49% stake in Vodafone Idea.
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