Telecom sector faces existential challenge; seeks immediate govt intervention

Telecom sector has rarely been mentioned in any of the past Budgets but it is one sector that now needs urgent fiscal respite. Telecom companies are under a huge debt burden of over ₹4-lakh crore and is facing additional demands of nearly ₹1-lakh crore from the Department of Telecom (DoT) in the form of dues on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR). This comes even as two of the three surviving mobile operators have reported massive losses in the last quarter raising doubts of their survival.

“The principal expectations we have are a possible reduction in license fee and spectrum usage charges, set up a special financing vehicle for telecom, and reduce GST, among others,” Rajan S Mathews, Director-General of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said.