Telcos may not get GST input tax credit refund: Report

Telecom companies may not get input tax credit refund worth Rs 36,000 crore under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), told the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi to The Economic Times.

"The GST Council has not considered this issue and even if it does come up for consideration, it will not be accepted," Modi said at a convener of the Group of Ministers on Integrated GST. "And such a huge amount, there is no question of refund," he added.

This comes at a time when the telecom companies are reeling with a debt of nearly Rs 8 lakh crore. The telecom companies have been urging the government to refund the input tax credit or adjust the amount against their statutory dues with hopes to find some relief.

According to the report, an input tax credit worth Rs 18,000 crore is pending for Reliance Jio Infocomm, about Rs 10,000 crore for Bharti Airtel and roughly Rs 8,000 crore for Vodafone Idea with the Finance Ministry.

In October, the Supreme had passed a judgement favouring the government on recovering adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of about Rs 92,000 crore from telecom service providers. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have been raising funds to pay these dues to the Telecom Department.

The telcos have also moved the apex court seeking a review of their judgement.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had earlier told Parliament that Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies owe the government as much as Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past statutory dues.