Banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) have called on the Indian government to give debt-laden Vodafone Idea more time to clear its tax dues and spectrum fees, Reuters reported quoting two bankers and a government official.

Vodafone Idea's gross debt as of June 30 was Rs 1.9 trillion, comprising deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1.06 trillion and an adjusted gross revenue liability of Rs 621.8 billion. The company also owes Rs 234 billion to financial institutions. 

Last order, the court ordered Vodafone Idea, a joint venture between Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group's Idea Cellular, to pay just over $8 billion to the government to settle long-standing dues. Vodafone has a stake of around 44% in the company while Aditya Birla owns nearly 27%. 

Vodafone Idea has earlier said that without a government reprieve its financial situation would drive its operations to an “irretrievable point of collapse”. 

Senior SBI officials and representatives of the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) met finance and telecom department officials this month and proposed an immediate breather on the repayment of spectrum dues, Reuters reported. 

"We've had these discussions with the banks but the issue is the finance ministry needs to be comfortable with the measures," Reuters quoted a government official as saying. 

The company is facing a repayment of Rs 5-10 billion rupees of non-convertible debentures around January, according to the report. 

Vodafone Idea had cash and cash equivalents of Rs 9.2 billion at the end of June. 

The bankers have also proposed providing some relief to Vodafone by restructuring its dues, one government official and two bankers told Reuters.