CARE downgrades rating on Vodafone Idea's loans in view of SC's AGR verdict

The ratings continue to be tempered by high debt level, declining subscriber base trends, regulatory risks and prevalent intense competition in the Indian telecom industry

Rating agency CARE has downgraded its rating on Vodafone Idea Ltd’s long-term loans and debentures from “A” to “A-” and also paced the rating under watch with negative implications.

The revision in long-term ratings factors in the Supreme Court’s (SC’s) recent ruling that telecom players have to include non-core revenues in their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to calculate their license fee dues. Based on the court order, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) can now raise its demand from Vodafone Idea to Rs 28,309 crore.

The company needed to comply with the SC order within three months. Further, the long stop