The Department of Telecom (DoT) has received direct payment of around Rs 17,876 crore from Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks and Vodafone Idea for 5G spectrum they won in a recent auction. While all telecom operators have opted to make payments in 20 annual installments, Bharti Airtel has paid around Rs 8,312.4 crore which was equal to four annual installments.

HIGHLIGHTS
Bharti Airtel paid Rs 8,312.4 crore which was equal to four annual installments
Gautam Adani's group had a bid of Rs 211.86 crore for 400 MHz in a band
The auction of telecom spectrum received a record Rs. 1.5 lakh crore worth of bids

Reliance Jio has made payment of Rs. 7,864.78 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs. 1,679.98 crore and Adani Data Networks Rs. 18.94 crore.

As per an official source, 'DoT has received a complete payment of around Rs. 17,876 crore. Just the Bharti Airtel has made the payment for four annual installments at one go.'

Well, the country's biggest-ever auction of telecom spectrum had received a record Rs. 1.5 lakh crore worth of bids, with Mukesh Ambani's Jio cornering nearly half all airwaves which was sold with a Rs. 87,946.93 crore bid.

Gautam Adani's group has placed bids worth Rs 211.86 crore for the 400 MHz in a band that was not used for providing public telecom services.

Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel has made a successful bid of Rs. 43,039.63 crore, whereas Vodafone Idea Ltd bought spectrum for Rs. 18,786.25 crore.

On Wednesday, telecom operator Airtel has declared that it had paid Rs. 8,312.4 crore to the Department of Telecom towards dues for spectrum which was acquired within the recently complete 5G auctions.

With the payment, Airtel has paid four years of 2022 spectrum dues directly. Well, the company had a choice to pay Rs. 3,848.88 crore directly and the rest of them in 19 annual instalments.

Airtel has mentioned that it believed that this direct payment was coupled with moratorium on spectrum dues and AGR (adjusted gross revenue)-related payments for the next four years, it would then free up the future money flows and permit Airtel to dedicate resources to single-mindedly concentrate on the 5G rollout.

Also Read: Union Cabinet approves 5G spectrum auction in India