The government, on Monday, received payment of Rs.18,267 crore, about Rs.30 crore less than the bids received from seven companies in the spectrum auction last month because of unavailability of radiowaves in some parts of the service areas.
“All companies have made upfront payment on Monday. Total of about Rs.18,267 crore has been received,” Telecom Secretary M. F. Farooqui told PTI.
Exceeds target by 61 % The amount received exceeds the government’s target of about Rs.11,333 crore set for the current fiscal, ending March 31, by about 61 per cent.
The government received bids worth Rs.62,162 crore in the auction for 1800 Mhz and 900 Mhz bands.
The winners — Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Idea Cellular, Telenor (Uninor), Reliance Communications and Aircel — had the option of paying in instalments — 33 per cent upfront for the 1800 Mhz bank and 25 per cent for the 900 Mhz band.
Annual instalments
The rest of the amount is to be paid in yearly instalments after two years with about 10 per cent interest.
“Uninor confirms that it has made the requisite upfront payment of Rs.266.44 crore, and bank guarantee of Rs.106.53 crore towards the first instalment payment, for the spectrum secured in the recent auctions,” it said in a statement.
As per the rule, the company had to pay about Rs.290 crore upfront but due to non-availability of spectrum in some areas, the upfront payment for it was reduced.
Vodafone, the biggest winner of spectrum, had to make an upfront payment of about Rs.5,582 crore; Airtel Rs.5,425 crore; Idea Rs.3,240 crore; Reliance Jio Rs.3,648; Telewings (Uninor) Rs.290 crore; Aircel Rs.69 crore and RCom Rs.54 crore.
