Telecom woes: Govt raises revenue expectation from telecom to Rs 50,519 cr in FY20

The government Friday increased revenue expectation from the telecom sector, which is reeling under financial stress, to Rs 50,519 crore in 2019-20 without accounting for spectrum auction payment.

The Budget documents presented in Parliament on Friday showed provision of Rs 50,519.81 crore as non-tax revenue from the communication sector for 2019-20 which was kept at Rs 41,519 crore in the Interim Budget 2019-20 in February.

"They (Department of Telecommunications) are still working on it (spectrum auction) so we have not taken it into account in the budget," Department of Economic Affairs Secretary S C Garg told reporters.

The fresh estimates are nearly 29 per cent higher compared to Rs 39,245 crore achieved in the previous fiscal. Receipts from the telecom sector mainly relate to the licence fees from operators and spectrum usage charges.

"Spectrum-related payments are estimated to be around Rs 28,000 crore which includes approximately Rs 11,000-12,000 crore from licence fee and spectrum usage charge (SUC). Around Rs 21,000 crore is estimated from repayment of debt (pending spectrum auction payments)," industry body COAI Director-General Rajan S Mathews said.

Mathews added, "I am not sure from where rest of the payments will come if auction proceeds are not included in it."