New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to withdraw 96 per cent of the Rs 4 lakh crore demand for AGR related dues raised against non-telecom PSUs like GAIL.

A bench of justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the DoT has filed an affidavit explaining the reason for raising the demand of AGR related dues against the PSUs.

The DoT sought time from the bench, which is hearing the matter through video-conferencing, to respond to the affidavits filed by telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd, on payment of AGR dues by them.

During the hearing, the bench asked about the security and guarantees which can be sought from telecom companies to ensure repayment of AGR dues.