Budget proposals completely ignored the telecom sector: Analysts

NEW DELHI: Analysts said that the budget proposals have completely ignored the telecom sector as the industry was looking forward to substantive measures and fiscal stimulus aimed at increasing the viability of the sector which is under extreme distress given, falling ARPUs and cash flows resulting from extensive competition.

“The telecom industry would be extremely disappointed by the budget proposals…at the minimum, the industry was hoping for a clarification that spectrum and license fee shall not be liable to GST since these are neither goods or services. Besides, it was hoped that substantial input credits with the industry players would be permitted to be moved to the cash register such that these could be refunded to the industry,” Vishal Malhotra, Tax Leader for the Telecom practice, EY India said.