Government expects more revenue from telecom sector

The government expects an increase in non-auction revenue from the financially stressed telecom industry in 2019-20 compared to previous fiscal as the Department of Telecom hoping stabilisation in the sector.

The Budget documents presented in the Parliament on Friday showed provision of Rs 50,519.81 crores as non-tax revenue from the communication sector for 2019-20 against Rs 39,245 crores garnered in 2018-19. However, the Budget speech did not mention anything related to the telecom sector explicitly.

The government earns revenue from mainly licence fees and spectrum usage charges from telecom operators.

In the 2018-19 fiscal revenue collection from the telecom sector was Rs 39,245 crores from the budgeted provision of Rs 48,661.42 crores. The earning was less in the previous fiscal mostly due to falling revenue from the sector, mainly due to price wars among operators.