Bharti Airtel Removed From ‘Denied Entry List’ By DGFT

On Friday, Bharti Airtel said in a stock exchange filing that the company has been removed from the DGFT's 'Denied Entry List.'

"This is regarding the news reports in certain sections of the media pertaining to Directorate General of Foreign Trade's (DGFT) Denied Entry List and our subsequent intimation to stock exchanges on January 29, 2020. We wish to clarify that the company has highlighted the relevant details and documents submitted to the DGFT and accordingly the name of the Company has now been removed from the 'Denied Entry List'. We are actively engaged with the authorities to complete the formalities and provide additional documents for closure of the remaining cases," it said.

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DGFT falls under the Ministry of Commerce.

On 28 January, a CNBC-TV18 news report citing sources said that the telecom operator had been added to the list by DGFT "due to non-fulfilment of export obligations under the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme." It also said that the import-export license of Bharti Airtel had also been stopped.

Under the EPCG scheme, import of capital goods is allowed at zero customs duty for manufacturing quality goods and services. Capital goods imported at zero duty must fulfil export obligation equivalent to six times the duty saved on the goods.

In clarification to the media report, Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said, "we wish to inform you that Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel / the Company) has not applied for any such license since April, 2018 since there was no operational need for the same. The Company has fulfilled all its export obligations under the past licenses and has applied for closure of these licenses along with necessary documents to the authorities in this regard."

"The Company is working towards an expeditious closure of this matter with the Office of the DGFT and for getting the Company's name removed from the DEL. It must also be noted that the said action does not limit the ability of the Company to undertake future imports or exports."