Airtel dials DoT for conversion of dues

If firm's plea is accepted, govt will hold a stake in 4 telcos

- SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY

In a surprising development, Bharti Airtel has become the second telecom company to reach out to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for converting its pending spectrum dues into government equity.

Airtel's move to avail of the Centre's 2021 moratorium proposal comes three weeks after the government nod to convert financially-stressed Vodafone Idea's (Vi) outstanding spectrum dues into equity shares worth Rs 36,950 crore. With that, the government stake in Vi has increased to 48.9 per cent from 22.6 per cent earlier.

If Airtel's request goes through, the government will be a stakeholder in four telecom companies — Vi, Airtel, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL). Both BSNL and MTNL are government-owned telcos.