SC stance jolts several stocks

Telecom stocks and their lenders were impacted after Supreme Court came down heavily on telecom companies and government officials for non-compliance of its October 24 order to pay dues and refused any relief in payment of AGR dues and directed them to pay up by March 16.

The telecom firms, Vodfone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices and Hughes, had sought a modification of the court order in the light of the financial distress.

The Supreme Court, however, made it clear that they will have to cough up `1.47 lakh crore in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

Shares of Vodafone Idea fell over 27 per cent to touch a low of `3.25 on the BSE and later closed

23.21 per cent down at

`3.44. Vodafone Idea posted over `6,400 crore loss in the third quarter, as reported by the company on Thursday.

Bharti Airtel shares rose 4.69 per cent to close at a new high of `565. However, shares of another Bharti Group company, Bharti Infratel, fell 4.04 per cent to `235.25.

RIL, which owns Jio, gained 0.86 per cent closing at `1486.65. Shares of lenders like SBI and IndusInd Bank, which have big exposure to the telecom companies facing AGR dues, also fell by 2.41 per cent and 4.38 per cent, respectively.

Non-telecom PSUs saddled with AGR dues also fell as the apex court also dismissed similar pleas by non-telecom PSUs, asking them to challenge the government demand notices in appropriate fora. Non-telecom PSUs losers included Gail India (-5.91 per cent), Power Grid (-3.26 per cent) and Oil India (-2.87 per cent). The apex court’s strong words means end of the road on any further extension of AGR dues, analyst said.