Budget 2019: Government Expects Rs 41,519 Crore Revenue From Telecom Sector In 2019-20

The government expects marginal growth in revenue from the telecom sector at Rs 41,519.76 crore in 2019-20, as per data published in the budget document.

The collection for the current fiscal is expected to fell short of Rs 9416.42 crore at Rs 39,245 crore from the budgeted provision of Rs 48,661.42 crore.

Receipts from telecom sector mainly relate to the license fees from operators and spectrum usage charges.

According to data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for July-September 2018, the gross revenue of telecom service providers dipped by 12.86 percent to Rs 57,827.24 from Rs 66,361.7 crore and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) by 13.26 percent to Rs 36,142.44 crore from Rs 41,668.84 crore on year-on-year basis.

The revenue from the telecom sector has been declining since end of 2016.

In 2017-18, the government’s revenue mop-up from the telecom sector fell by about 22 percent, owing to a decline in earnings of service providers from the sale of services.

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, under aegis of COAI, have approached the government for deferment of spectrum payments by 2 years.

The revenue provision from the telecom sector indicates that the government has not made collection estimates from spectrum auction that is being planned to be held in the second half of 2019.

The Trai has recommended an auction of about 8,644 MHz of telecom frequencies at an estimated total base price of Rs 4.9 lakh crore, which includes radio-waves for 5G services.―The Financial Express: