AGR or no AGR, govt to miss telecom receipt target

The government has not only upped the FY20 revised estimate receipts from telecom services to Rs 58,989.64 crore from the Budget estimate of Rs 50,519.81 crore, but also gone ahead and fixed a very ambitious figure of Rs 1.33 lakh crore for FY21. However, if closely examined, it seems that the government has got its estimates clearly wrong and would miss it on both fronts.

If at all, the government expects to meet the revised target of Rs 58,989.64 crore for the current fiscal, it would be on the basis of some upfront amount it gets as adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues from telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices. However, the Supreme Court is yet to take up the modification petitions of these operators urging for scheduling the payment in a staggered manner so what shape it takes eventually is a little premature to speculate.