Vodafone Idea share price hits 10% upper circuit on potential AGR waiver buzz

Vodafone Idea share price surged as much as 10 per cent in opening deals to hit its upper circuit on the BSE on Monday, January 20, amid reports that the government was mulling a proposal to waive adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues for telecom companies. Vodafone Idea's share price opened 10 per cent higher at ₹10.03, compared to its previous close of ₹9.12. The stock was locked at its upper circuit level of ₹10.03 around 9:35 AM.

According to an Economic Times report, the Union government is considering a proposal to waive AGR dues for telecom companies. The government is considering “to waive 50 per cent of interest and 100 per cent of penalties and interest on penalties” that make up a bulk of the AGR dues that were levied on telcos such as Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel after the Supreme Court order of 2019, said the report.

AGR is the revenue earned by telecom operators from their core services. According to a Trai report, telecom operators' gross revenue rose 10.5 per cent year-on-year to ₹91,426 crore in the July- September 2024 quarter, led by tariff hikes. The adjusted gross revenue, on which the government computes its levies, increased by 13.11 per cent year-on-year to ₹75,310 crore.

Vodafone Idea's AGR rose 4.39 per cent to ₹7,836.98 crore from ₹7,507.65 crore.

Vodafone Idea share price trend

Vodafone Idea shares have been rising for the last five consecutive sessions (since January 14). Considering today's high of ₹10.03, the stock has jumped nearly 30 per cent in these five sessions.

Omega Telecom Holdings Private Limited, which previously held 279,017,784 equity shares of Vodafone Idea (constituting 0.40 per cent of the company's equity share capital), acquired an additional 1,084,594,607 equity shares through a preferential issue by the company.

Similarly, Usha Martin Telematics Limited (UMTL), which owned 91,123,113 equity shares of the telecom giant (accounting for 0.13 per cent of the equity share capital), secured 608,623,754 additional equity shares through a similar preferential issue.

The stock hit a 52-week high of ₹19.15 on June 28 followed by a 52-week low of ₹6.60 on November 22 last year.

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