Government Expects Rs. 45,471 Crore Revenue From Communication Services

The estimated receipts from communication services in the Budget for 2014-15 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday are higher than the Rs. 38,954 crore revenue projected in the interim budget in February.

The receipts under the same head were Rs. 40,847.06 crore in 2013-14, according to revised estimates for FY14.

"Receipts under other communications services mainly related to one-time spectrum charges levied as per recommendations of Trai, auction of 1,800MHz (megahertz) and

900MHz spectrum and receipts from 800MHz spectrum," the Budget document said.

GSM players use spectrum in 1800MHz and 900MHz band for providing wireless telecom services, while 800MHz band is used by CDMA service providers.

In coming days, 1800MHz and 900MHz band can be used for high-end mobile services like 3G and 4G. In FY 2013-14, the government had set a target of raising Rs. 40,847.05 crore, which was later revised to Rs. 40,847.06 crore, from communication sector. Of this, about Rs. 11,333 crore were expected from spectrum auction.

The spectrum auction held in February fetched government Rs. 18,267 crore, about 60 percent more than it estimated. The government had put on the block about 385MHz of radiowaves in the 1800MHz band, and 46MHz in the 900MHz band.

At the base price, that cumulatively amounted to about Rs. 47,933 crore but auction attracted total bids of Rs. 62,162 crore approximately.