Carriers owe government nearly Rs 1.47 lakh crore: Telecom Ministry

NEW DELHI: Indian carriers owe the government nearly Rs 1.47 lakh crore in license fee (LF) and spectrum usage charges (SUC), the communications ministry told the Parliament Wednesday. Of the total amount, license fee comes to Rs 92,642 crore as of July this year, while SUC comes to Rs 55,054 crore as of October end this year.

Bharti AirtelNSE -2.13 % and Vodafone IdeaNSE -4.26 % hold the majority of the liabilities emanating from these dues, which the department of telecommunications has sought through a process started last week. For Bharti Airtel, dues are around Rs 35,586 crore – Rs 21,682 crore as LF and Rs 13,904 crore as SUC excluding Tata Teleservices and Telenor – while for Vodafone Idea they amount to Rs 53,038 crore, of which Rs 28,309 crore in LF and Rs 24,730 crore in SUC