Sunil Bharti Mittal exposed

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) sometimes in April/May 2015 submitted its draft report on Bharti for the period from 2006-2010. It has worked out under-reporting of revenue by Rs 8,544 crore under various heads (see table at pg 35 to 37), and hence Licence Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) was not paid to the government on this amount.

CAG has also flagged another issue of allocating free spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band to Bharti Airtel. It has worked out favour of Rs 5,781 crore to Bharti. There are many companies enjoying 3.3 GHz free ride (detailed in our July 2015 issue). Overall, the spectrum in this band if auctioned could fetch over 1 lakh crore to the government.