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Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) is India’s telecom revenue metric, including calls, data, rent, dividends, and Supreme Court rulings impacting major operators’ finances.
By Vajiram Editor – Sep 26, 2025, 17:09 IST
Adjusted Gross Revenue is the share of revenue that telecom operators in India needed to pay to the Department of Telecommunications as part of their license agreement. It includes earnings from telecom services (like calls, data, SMS, roaming, value-added services) as well as non-telecom revenues like interest income, asset sales, rent and foreign exchange gains to the Department of Telecom Communication. In this article, we are going to cover Adjusted Gross Revenue, its components, supreme court decisions.
Adjusted Gross Revenue is the metric used by the Department of Telecommunications in India to calculate the license fee and spectrum usage charges payable by telecom operators. According to the DoT, Adjusted Gross Revenue is not limited to core revenues from telecom services alone; it also includes earnings from non-telecom sources, such as interest from deposits, gains from asset sales, rental income, and dividends.
In October 2019, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment upholding the DoT’s definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue. The Court ruled that telecom operators must include non-core revenues in their AGR calculations. Consequently, it directed the companies to pay dues amounting to over ₹1.47 lakh crore including license fees, SUC, accrued interest, penalties, and interest on the penalties. This ruling finally increased the financial liability of telecom operators.
The Supreme Court’s verdict on Adjusted Gross Revenue had the following legal implication: 
Adjusted Gross Revenue has the following components:
The Adjusted Gross Revenue had the following impact on telecom operators:
Last updated on September, 2025
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Q1. What is AGR in the telecom industry?+
Ans. AGR is the revenue on which Indian telecom operators pay license fees and spectrum usage charges to the government.
Q2. How is AGR calculated?+
Ans. AGR is calculated by including all revenue earned by a telecom company, both from telecom services and non-telecom sources like interest, asset sales, and rent.
Q3. What was the financial impact of AGR?+
Ans. AGR dues have imposed massive financial burdens on operators, with companies like Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel owing tens of thousands of crores.
Q4. What is Adjusted Gross Revenue?+
Ans. Adjusted Gross Revenue is the total revenue of a telecom operator, including both core telecom income and non-core earnings, used to determine government dues.
Q5. What are the components of Adjusted Gross Revenue?+
Ans. Components include revenue from telecom services (calls, data, SMS, roaming) and non-telecom sources (interest, dividends, asset sales, rent, foreign exchange gains).
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