Government gets entire upfront payment from spectrum auction

The telecom firms have paid the entire upfront payment amount of Rs.28,872 crore to the government for the spectrum auction that took place in March, according to sources.

Thursday was the last day for the payment.

Idea Cellular emerged as the top bidder in the latest round of auctions for telecom spectrum with a total commitment of Rs.30,306 crore. Bharti Airtel committed the second-highest amount of Rs.29,310 crore.

The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio, which was expected to bid aggressively for the spectrum to start 4G services in the country, made a total commitment of Rs.10,077 crore. Among the other players out of eight that qualified, Vodafone bid Rs.25,959 crore, Tata Teleservices bid Rs.7,851 crore, and Reliance Communications bid Rs.4,299 crore. Uninor, however, did not win any spectrum.

It is learnt that Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications have deposited the upfront payment amount on Wednesday, while other operators deposited it on Thursday.

The upfront payment due was - Idea Cellular, Rs.7,772.2 crore; Airtel, Rs.7,832.20 crore; Vodafone, Rs.6,817.23 crore; Reliance Jio, Rs.2,591.76 crore; Tata Teleservices, Rs.2,013.33 crore; Reliance Communications, Rs.1,104.09 crore and Aircel, Rs.742.5 crore, according to department of telecommunications.

The e-auction of radio frequency spectrum, or airwaves, for telecom operators concluded on March 25 after 19 days and 115 rounds of rigorous bidding with commitments at Rs.109,874.91 crore -- the highest-ever.

This amount can be considered as a windfall for the government as it has surpassed the previous high of Rs.106,200 crore that it had received in the 2010 auction, which was spread over 34 days with 183 rounds of bidding.

On offer were blocks for 69 service areas at a total reserve price of Rs.80,277 crore, and the provisional allocation was announced for 63 of them at a winning price of Rs.109,874.91 crore. In 50 service areas, the winning bids went at a premium.