Vodafone Idea rebounds 53% from day's low on hopes of relief package

Shares of Vodafone Idea rallied 38 per cent to Rs 5.80 on the BSE on Friday after media report suggested that the Union Cabinet has likely approved a bailout plan for the stressed telecom industry which proposes to give relief to the telecom companies with respect to their pending adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. 

The stock of Vodafone Idea bounced back 53 per cent from its intra-day low of Rs 3.78 on the back of heavy volumes. The market price of the telecom services provider was trading at its highest level since January 27, 2020.

At 12:07 pm, Vodafone Idea was trading 33 per cent higher at Rs 5.56 on the BSE, as against a 0.68 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 920 million shares have changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.

The rescue package may include a staggered payment schedule for the pending dues, the national daily Times of India reported on Wednesday.

The telecom department - along with the finance ministry and NITI Aayog - is working on the bailout plan, the report said.

Furthermore, according to a Business Standard report, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said on Thursday it would reassess the documents submitted by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Tata Teleservices, as part of the companies’ self-assessment of AGR dues. READ HERE

Vodafone Idea on March 6 announced that it had completed assessing its dues linked to AGR. The self-assessment disclosed the company's AGR liabilities to aggregate Rs 21,533 crore including a principal amount of Rs 6,854 crore for the period from FY 2006-07 to FY 2018-19 and interest up to February 2020. Vodafone Idea’s calculation of the AGR liability turned out to be less than half of the government estimate.

Among other stocks, Bharti Airtel was up 4 per cent at Rs 482 on the BSE. The stock hit an intra-day high of Rs 511, recovering 22 per cent from its early morning low of Rs 419. Bharti Infratel, on the other hand, rallied 10 per cent in the intra-day trade to Rs 242, bouncing back 15 per cent from day’s low of Rs 211 on the BSE.