Telcos deposit ₹13,475 cr. for spectrum auction

Jio submits EMD of ₹10,000 crore.

NEW DELHI, 22/06/2012: Telecom towers over a building in New Delhi even as State-owned Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) has put its plan to lease 200,000 of its transmission towers to the telecom sector on hold, reflecting the Indian telecom sector losing its sheen. In the initial phase, the public sector unit (PSU) had plans to expand its telecom business by leasing out 15,000 transmission towers to firms such as Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone India Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. However, it has only leased out 800 towers in States such as Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Photo: V.V. Krishnan

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have submitted a total earnest money deposit (EMD) of ₹13,475 crore for the spectrum auction scheduled to start from March 1, according to information disclosed by the Department of Telecom on Thursday.

The total EMD amount is close to one-fourth of the amount required to be eligible for buying all spectrum, worth a base price of ₹3.92 lakh crore, put on the block.

The richest player Reliance Jio with net worth of ₹1.79 lakh crore has submitted an EMD of ₹10,000 crore, which indicates that the company will bid for spectrum in select spectrum bands. This is perhaps the highest EMD submitted by a telecom player for any spectrum auction held in the country till date.