Govt cuts revenue estimates from telecom; pegs receipts at Rs 53,986 cr

The government has lowered revenue estimates from the telecom sector while pegging expected receipts at Rs 53,986 crore in the next financial year, according to the budget documents presented in Parliament on Monday.

The Finance Ministry in the budget for 2020-21 had projected a revenue of Rs 1.33 lakh crore from the telecom sector which was slashed steeply to Rs 33,737 crore in the revised estimates presented in the budget on Monday.

"Receipts under 'Other Communication Services' mainly relate to the license fees from telecom operators and receipts on account of spectrum usage charges. Department of Telecom collects recurring licence fees from various Telecom Service Providers licensed by it," the document said.

The licence fee is levied at 8 per cent of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR)- which is considered as income from sale of telecom services.

The lowering of revenue estimate comes at a time when the government has set the ball rolling for the spectrum auction in which radiowaves valued at Rs 3.92 lakh crore will be put on the block.

The auction in seven spectrum bands for mobile services is scheduled to start from March 1.