Bharti Airtel to raise $3 billion to pay court-ordered AGR dues

New Delhi : Indian telecom operator, Bharti Airtel has said that they will be raising a fund of $ 3 billion via debt and equity to pay up the court-ordered AGR dues to the government.

Last month, Airtel and Vodafone had raised their concerns over facing difficulties in continuing its services in the country.

Airtel said that it will be raising $2 billion via qualified institutional placement and $1 billion via bonds and debentures.

Two of the three top mobile carriers in the country – Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Limited – have to pay an overdue of $13 billion to the government. Both the companies have approached the court filing a review petition on the October ruling.

A little respite has been provided to the telecos as the government allowed mobile operators to defer upcoming spectrum payments for the next two years until March 2022.

Both the carriers have raised their tariffs and data service packs.

Vodafone is yet to make an announcement on its plan to pay the dues.