India cuts Vodafone Idea's pending telecom dues to $6.75 billion

BENGALURU, April 30 (Reuters) - India has slashed Vodafone Idea's long-pending dues to 640.46 billion rupees ($6.75 billion) from 876.95 billion rupees earlier, the telecom firm said on Thursday.

The dues stem from a long legal dispute over government's method of calculating the so-called adjusted gross revenue, which telecom operators had contested as this metric determines licence fees and other dues.

In December, the government approved a partial moratorium on Vodafone Idea's dues, freezing them at 876.95 billion rupees and deferring repayments to the 2030s, providing near-term cash flow relief for the debt-saddled firm.

Now, the telecom company will have to pay 1 billion rupees annually over four years from financial year 2032 to 2035, with the remaining amount to be cleared in six equal yearly installments between fiscal years 2036 and 2041.

($1 = 94.9100 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)