Kumar Mangalam Birla from Vodafone Idea is ready to give up his stake

Birla eager to chase the idea

We owe Rs 21,500 crore: Vodafone AGR owes Rs 58,000 crore: DOT

New Delhi: Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla is all set to relinquish his promoter stake in heavily indebted telecom company Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL). He said he was ready to give his stake to any government or local financial company to keep the company afloat.

Birla made the remarks in a letter to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gaba. Kumar Mangalam Birla is the promoter and chairman of Vodafone India. He has a 27 per cent stake in the company and Britain's Vodafone has a 44 per cent stake. The company has a current market capitalization of Rs 24,000 crore. Both promoters have decided not to make new investments in the company.

Vodafone plc has already compounded its investment. Vodafone Idea has a debt of about Rs 1.8 lakh crore. The company's board had announced to raise Rs 25,000 crore in September last year, but the investor is unwilling to give any price to the company without assurances of government help.

Birla said in a letter to Gaba that the government needs to take immediate action on the matter. He also said he was ready to relinquish control of the company.

He said he was ready to give his stake to any government and local company. The government should take this step to instil confidence in foreign investors. If the government does not take immediate action, the very existence of Vodafone India will be in jeopardy.

Last month, the apex court rejected the pleas of Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel to revise the AGR calculation. Vodafone Idea says it has an AGR of Rs 21,500 crore. Out of this, it has paid Rs 7,800 crore. According to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Vodafone has an AGR of Rs 58,000 crore.