AgenciesAfter exceeding the budgeted target of revenue receipts from the telecom sector in FY22, the government is set to repeat the feat in FY23 as well, with likely earnings of ₹67,000 crore as against the target of ₹52,806.36 crore.
The mop up can be made possible because of Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), which will pay around ₹30,000 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for spectrum allotment in the 900 MHz and 1,800 Mhz bands, say officials. In addition, the government has mopped up higher than expected proceeds from the recent spectrum auctions.
Apart from upfront spectrum payments and BSNL receipts, the DoT would get around ₹14,000 crore as licence fee proceeds and another ₹5,000 crore as spectrum usage charges (SUC). The DoT used to get around ₹7,000 crore annually as SUC proceeds but going forward, the amount will start to decrease as there won't be any SUC on airwaves bought in the auctions. For the spectrum bought in the 5G auction, telcos don't have to pay any SUC.
In the last financial year, the telecom sector revenue receipts stood at over ₹85,000 crore as against the budgeted target of ₹53,986.7 crore. The excess mop up was made possible because of pre-payment of spectrum instalments by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. Jio had pre-paid ₹30,791 crore, clearing all dues towards spectrum bought in auctions before March 2021 while Airtel had paid ₹24,334 crore to clear deferred instalments of earlier auctions.
In the current financial year though, the reasons for exceeding revenue target are slightly different. First, it is because of BSNL paying around ₹30,000 crore to DoT for spectrum allotment. Another reason is Airtel paying more upfront amount for the recently-concluded 5G spectrum auction. Airtel has paid ₹8,312.4 crore to the DoT, settling instalments for four years upfront, while the remaining three winners-Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and Adani Data Networks-have paid their first instalments.
Overall, the DoT has received ₹17,875 crore as upfront payments for the 5G auction, as against the budgeted ₹5,000 crore.
The DoT had budgeted a very low amount for upfront payments despite the 5G auction because of the change in conditions. In the past auctions, operators had to pay 25% or 50% upfront for different spectrum bands, but no such condition was put in the 5G auction. Telcos were mandated to pay only the first instalment of the overall amount as upfront.
The mop up can be made possible because of Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), which will pay around ₹30,000 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for spectrum allotment in the 900 MHz and 1,800 Mhz bands, say officials. In addition, the government has mopped up higher than expected proceeds from the recent spectrum auctions.
Apart from upfront spectrum payments and BSNL receipts, the DoT would get around ₹14,000 crore as licence fee proceeds and another ₹5,000 crore as spectrum usage charges (SUC). The DoT used to get around ₹7,000 crore annually as SUC proceeds but going forward, the amount will start to decrease as there won't be any SUC on airwaves bought in the auctions. For the spectrum bought in the 5G auction, telcos don't have to pay any SUC.
In the last financial year, the telecom sector revenue receipts stood at over ₹85,000 crore as against the budgeted target of ₹53,986.7 crore. The excess mop up was made possible because of pre-payment of spectrum instalments by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. Jio had pre-paid ₹30,791 crore, clearing all dues towards spectrum bought in auctions before March 2021 while Airtel had paid ₹24,334 crore to clear deferred instalments of earlier auctions.
In the current financial year though, the reasons for exceeding revenue target are slightly different. First, it is because of BSNL paying around ₹30,000 crore to DoT for spectrum allotment. Another reason is Airtel paying more upfront amount for the recently-concluded 5G spectrum auction. Airtel has paid ₹8,312.4 crore to the DoT, settling instalments for four years upfront, while the remaining three winners-Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and Adani Data Networks-have paid their first instalments.
Overall, the DoT has received ₹17,875 crore as upfront payments for the 5G auction, as against the budgeted ₹5,000 crore.
The DoT had budgeted a very low amount for upfront payments despite the 5G auction because of the change in conditions. In the past auctions, operators had to pay 25% or 50% upfront for different spectrum bands, but no such condition was put in the 5G auction. Telcos were mandated to pay only the first instalment of the overall amount as upfront.
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