Shares of Vodafone Idea on Tuesday fell over 10 per cent after reports that Aditya Birla group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has offered to hand over his stake in debt-laden VIL to the government entities to keep the company operational.
The stock plunged 10.30 per cent to close at Rs 7.40 on the BSE. During the day, it tumbled 13.09 per cent to Rs 7.17 -- its 52-week low.
At the NSE, it closed at Rs 7.40, lower by 10.30 per cent.
The billionaire businessman made the offer in June in a letter to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba.
According to official data, VIL had an adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability of Rs 58,254 crore out of which the company has paid Rs 7,854.37 crore and Rs 50,399.63 crore is outstanding.
VIL along with Bharti Airtel had approached the Supreme Court for correction in the government calculations, but their plea was rejected.
In the letter, Birla, who holds around a 27 per cent stake in VIL, said investors are not willing to invest in the company in the absence of clarity on AGR liability, an adequate moratorium on spectrum payments and most importantly floor pricing regime above the cost of service.
Without immediate active support from the government on the three issues by July, the financial situation of VIL will come to an "irretrievable point of collapse," Birla said in the letter dated June 7.
"It is with a sense of duty towards the 27 crore Indians connected by VIL, I am more than willing to hand over my stake in the company to any entity- public sector/government /domestic financial entity or any other that the government may consider worthy of keeping the company as a going concern," Birla said in the letter.
