  Eight telecom operators have jointly submitted earnest money deposit of about Rs. 20,435 crores for spectrum auction starting March 4, with Reliance Jio Infocom submitting the highest guarantee, Reports PTI.
"The cumulative EMD (earnest money deposit) submitted by eight telecom operators is about Rs. 20,435 crores," an official source told PTI.
Spectrum, or radio-waves, is key part of telecom networks used by companies to provide mobile or wireless services.
The earnest money deposits translate into points that determine the quantum of spectrum blocks a company can bid in the auction process.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has submitted the highest EMD of about Rs. 4,500 crores, followed by Bharti Airtel with Rs. 4,336 crores, Idea Cellular with Rs. 4,000 crores, Vodafone with Rs. 3,700 crores, Tata Teleservices with Rs. 1,500 crores, Reliance Communications with Rs. 1,175 crores, Telewings (Uninor) with Rs. 724.95 crores and Aircel with Rs. 500 crores indicating aggressive bidding in auction rounds, sources said.
These companies, barring Uninor, did not respond to queries sent to them to confirm the amounts.
Uninor in a statement said: "Uninor has filed application expressing its intent to participate in the upcoming spectrum auctions."
The government expects to garner over Rs. 80,000 crores from the sale of radio-waves for providing 2G as well as 3G services, going by the reserve price. Proceeds from this year's auction are expected to help the government meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of the GDP.
It has approved the minimum or auction start price for the 2100MHz band or 3G spectrum, which will garner at least Rs. 17,555 crores. The reserve price for auction of 2G spectrum in 800MHz, 900MHz and 1800MHz bands will fetch the government at least Rs. 64,840 crores.
Industry experts believe that operators will try to win 3G spectrum in service areas where they don't have it to become pan-India 3G operators and reduce dependency on roaming agreement.
As per credit rating firm CRISIL, telecom operators are expected to jointly shell out over Rs. 90,000 crores in the upcoming auction and their debt may rise by about Rs. 70,000 crores after making payment.
PTI |