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Vodafone Idea (Vi) has opted for a four year moratorium on payment of Rs 8837 crore in AGR dues in addition to one exercised last year. Similarly, the telecom company has the option to convert interest on deferred amount into additional equity to government.

The government is set to own 33 per cent stake in Vi following an earlier decision to convert interest with net present value of interest worth Rs 16,000 crore into equity.

In a stock exchange notification Vi said that it received a letter from government on June 15 offering four year moratorium for all AGR dues upto financial year 2018-19.

The company's board decided on Wednesday to defer the AGR dues of Rs 8,837 crore. That amount is subject to revision on account of disposal of various representations and final amount has to be paid in six equal instalments after end of moratorium in March 2026.

Vi has to decide on conversion of interest on these AGR dues in 90 days.

Last September the government gave telecom companies an option to defer AGR payments for four years as a part of its telecom reforms package. These covered dues upto 2016-17 which were a part of the Supreme Court order. Vi opted for a moratorium on these dues last October.

According to official data, telecom operators owe over Rs 1.65 trillion to the government in adjusted gross revenue up to financial year 2018-19.

The fresh calculation shows AGR liability on Bharti Airtel was Rs 31,280 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs 59,236.63 crore, Reliance Jio Rs 631 crore, BSNL Rs 16,224 crore, MTNL Rs 5,009.1 crore up to financial year 2018-19.

The company in a separate filing said that its board has approved raising of Rs 436.21 crore from Vodafone Group company Euro Pacific Securities through issue of preferential share at a unit price of Rs 10.2 apiece or warrants at the same price.

India is opposed to providing any capital gains tax waivers to overseas debt investors even if it delays its goal of getting its bonds included in global bond indexes, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The Indian government had initiated the process of listing its debt in global indexes in 2019, and has been in discussions with J.P.Morgan and Bloomberg-Barclays while also talking to Euroclear with regards to clearing and settlement.

Under existing rules, an overseas investor is required to pay a short-term capital gains tax of 30% if a listed bond is sold within 12 months.

The global bond index listing plan was widely expected to be announced early this year but the government's insistence on capital gains has slowed talks with index operators, officials privy to discussions told Reuters.

The finance ministry did not immediately reply to a mail and a message seeking comments.

In October last year, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said the index inclusion was in an advanced stage of discussions with major index providers and should happen "maybe in the next few months".

"The taxation part of it is the only thing that is yet to be resolved. But there is no rationale to tax citizens and not tax overseas investors," a senior source aware of the discussions said.

Domestic investors have to pay short-term capital gains tax on debt investments as per their prevailing tax slabs and additional 4% cess.

"The risks of such index inclusions have always been there and though India is in a much better shape now, globally things are fairly volatile and it may not necessarily be the best time to go for this," he added.

Index inclusion will aid sentiment in the near-term and incremental foreign investment inflows over the medium term would help policymakers to buy some time until the global market conditions become somewhat easier to navigate, Deutsche Bank said in a recent note.

"Global bond index inclusion is not a panacea for all the challenges faced by India at this juncture, but at least it can help on the margin," the bank said.

India’s current account deficit (CAD) for FY22 widened to $38.7 billion or 1.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from $23.7 billion (0.9 percent of GDP) in FY21.

The wider deficit is on expected lines as a surge in global oil prices inflated the petroleum and oil bill for the economy during the year. As a result, the trade deficit widened sharply by $185.5 billion.

Since oil prices are likely to remain elevated, economists expect the CAD to widen further in the coming year. What’s more is that the odds of a recession in the US have risen which could dampen the prospects for exports as the country remains the biggest export destination for Indian goods and services.