A committee reviewing the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of Vodafone Idea has broadly worked out a reduction of around Rs 27,000 crore from the company’s liabilities, according to officials familiar with the matter. The reassessment is based on reports submitted by department of telecommunications (DoT) field officers and will now move to the next stage of determining the detailed breakup between licence fee and spectrum usage charges (SUC) within the revised amount.
Recalculating the Burden
The company’s AGR dues had been frozen at Rs 87,695 crore in December 2025 when the government initiated a fresh review of the calculations. A reduction of about Rs 27,000 crore from that level implies a decline of roughly 30.8%, taking the revised dues to around Rs 60,695 crore.
Officials said the figure represents the committee’s broad estimate after examining historical revenue records and inputs from field units. The panel still needs to finalise the allocation between licence fee and SUC components, which together constitute AGR-related government levies.
The reassessment revisits liabilities that stem from the Supreme Court’s October 2019 ruling, which upheld the government’s definition of AGR. The judgement had fixed the dues as calculated by the DoT, which in the case of Vodafone Idea stood at Rs 53,039 crore. This amount comprised both licence fee and SUC components and included the principal amount along with interest, penalty and interest on penalty.
Within the original calculation, licence fee dues were estimated at around Rs 29,000 crore while SUC dues were about Rs 24,000 crore, taking the total to roughly Rs 53,039 crore.
Over time, the payable amount rose significantly. After the government allowed a moratorium on payments and later converted a portion of the dues into equity as part of telecom relief measures, Vodafone Idea’s AGR liability was recalculated at Rs 87,695 crore and frozen at that level in December 2025.
Correcting Arithmetic
Vodafone Idea had earlier disputed the government’s computation, stating that the calculations contained arithmetical errors. The company had said its own self-assessment put AGR dues at around Rs 21,500 crore, substantially lower than the government’s figure.
The committee’s current reassessment therefore represents a partial correction of the original calculations. If the reduction of about Rs 27,000 crore were applied to the DoT’s original demand of Rs 53,039 crore, which was endorsed by Supreme Court, the revised amount would fall to Rs 26,039 crore.
In percentage terms, a reduction of Rs 27,000 crore from Rs 53,039 crore works out to about 50.9%. This means the revised dues would represent roughly 49.1% of the original amount. In value terms, the remaining liability would be Rs 26,039 crore.
In simple terms, the “amount remaining” refers to the portion of the original dues that would still be payable after the reduction. With a Rs 27,000 crore cut from Rs 53,039 crore, the balance payable would be Rs 26,039 crore, or about 49.1% of the original liability.
This would mean dues falling to Rs 26,039 crore after a Rs 27,000 crore reduction, representing a decline of about 51% from the original amount.
Officials said the current estimate is preliminary and subject to further verification. The next stage of the review will involve recalculating the licence fee and SUC components separately on the basis of the reassessed AGR figures.
The final outcome of the committee’s exercise will determine Vodafone Idea’s eventual AGR liability.