The revenues for the Indian government from the telecom sector of India are going to surpass the budgeted target in FY23. It will be the second consecutive year for such a thing to happen. Even in FY22, the government earned more revenues than what was the budgeted target. Multiple factors, including the recently concluded 5G spectrum auctions, are going to contribute to the revenues from the sector. In FY23, the Indian government is expected to earn around Rs 67,000 crore as against the target of Rs 52,806.36 crore. According to an ET Telecom report, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to receive around Rs 30,000 crore from BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) for the spectrum allotment in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands for 4G services. The government also saw more than expected revenues flowing in from the recently concluded 5G spectrum auctions. Apart from all this, the DoT would also earn significant revenues in License Fees (LFs) and Spectrum Usage Charges (SUCs). The amount of SUCs is going to drop down as the spectrum bought in the recent auction, and the future auctions won’t attract any SUC. It was a measure announced as a part of the relief package by the DoT in September 2021.
What was the Revenue for Govt in FY22?
Even in FY22, the government had earned more than the target. The government had earned around Rs 85,000 crore in FY22 against the Rs 53,986.72 crore target. This was possible due to the pre-payments made by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. Airtel has also paid an upfront amount of Rs 8,312.4 crore for spectrum instalments of four years. Against the budgeted Rs 5,000 crore, the DoT received Rs 17,875 crore as upfront payments for the 5G spectrum auction. It would be interesting to see if Jio or Airtel make any more upfront payments to the DoT before the end of the current financial year. If that happens, then the revenues for the government would increase multiple folds.
