The Government will get a minimum of ₹16,750 crore from spectrum auction in the current fiscal, which has so far generated bids worth ₹56,554.92 crore after 42 rounds of bidding.
Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui said that there will a realisation of at least ₹16,750 crore in the current fiscal if operators opt to pay in instalments.
The bidders can pay part of the money upfront and the remaining amount over a maximum of 10 yearly instalments.
“A total of 42 rounds are over. Bids worth around ₹33,082.58 crore are received for 1800 Mhz and ₹23,472.34 crore for 900 Mhz. Auction continues on Monday,” Farooqui said.
The auction is witnessing aggressive bidding in the premium 900 Mhz band from companies such as Vodafone, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, with the prices of Delhi circle already doubled to ₹733.63 crore per MHz from the base price of ₹360 crore. Mumbai has also seen over 70 per cent jump in prices to ₹563.09 crore per MHz.
It is a must for both Vodafone to get spectrum in 900 MHz band in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and Airtel in Delhi and Kolkata if they want to continue operations in the band as their licences are coming up for renewal in November.
If the companies fail to get spectrum in 900 Mhz band, they have to shift their infrastructure to 1800 Mhz band to continue operations, which may cost huge capital expenditure.
Sources said Reliance Jio is also bidding for the 900 Mhz band, thereby leading to a price rise. At present, Vodafone owns 8 Mhz in 900 Mhz band in Delhi and Mumbai, while Airtel holds 8 Mhz in Delhi.
The Government has already surpassed its estimate to garner ₹11,300 crore in the current financial year.
The budget for 2013-14 had set a total target of ₹40,874 crore from spectrum revenue this fiscal and a bumper collection through airwaves auction would help the government keep the fiscal deficit under control.
The country’s fiscal deficit at ₹5.16 lakh crore has already crossed 95 per cent of the budget target in the first nine months of 2013-14.