Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty said on Monday at a post-Budget event at Ficci that "AGR dues payment has not been taken into account in the Budget", and the higher revenue projection in the budget is expected on account of spectrum charges and license fees from telecom operators.
The government, in the Budget, increased the revenue estimate from the debt-ridden telecom sector by over two-fold to Rs 1.33 lakh crore for 2020-21. In the receipt budget, it has pegged a revenue collection of Rs 1,33,027.2 crore for financial year 2020-21 under the communications head. The sector's financial situation is such that it is looking for relief from government and is fighting in the court on the AGR dues amounting to Rs 1.02 lakh crore.
The spectrum auction is scheduled to be held this year but the Budget did not mention even the auction either ot if any proceeds are to be netted from there.
"Receipts under 'Other Communication Services' mainly relate to the license fees from telecom operators and receipts on account of spectrum usage charges," the budget document says. It is pertinent to mention here that the AGR dues are also on the same category of licence fees and spectrum usage charges.
The government has pegged revenue of Rs 1.33 trillion from licence fee and spectrum usage charge payments by telecom licensees in the next financial year 2020-21, up 125 per cent from Rs 58,989 crore that it expects to garnerate in the current fiscal, budget documents show.
( With inputs from IANS )