Seven mobile operators are said to have deposited EMD (earnest money deposits) of about Rs 15,000 crore for the upcoming spectrum auctions due on 1 October - much lower than the previous year's Rs 20,435 crore.
A DoT official, however, said the EMD cannot be linked to the scale of bidding. "In 2010, when Infotel Broadband, now Reliance Jio, applied for auction, no one was able to link their EMD with the pan-India bids that they placed. There were established players that were participating in that auction, but Infotel emerged as the pan-India winner of BWA spectrum," the official said.
The official, however, refused to share EMD figures. According to industry sources, Reliance Jio has deposited the highest guarantee of nearly Rs 6,500 crore while Vodafone has submitted an EMD of about Rs 2,800 crore.
Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel are understood to have submitted about Rs 2,000 crore and 1,900 crore, respectively, ahead of the auction where airwaves worth Rs 5.63 lakh crore will go under the hammer. The balance has been submitted by Tata Teleservices, RCom and Aircel. EMD is indicative of a company's strategy to bid in specific circles and spectrum bands. It gives them eligibility points with regard to those circles.
The finance ministry in the Budget pegged the revenue target at Rs 98,995 crore from the telecom space, which includes Rs 64,000 crore from the auction of about 2,354.55 Mhz of spectrum and the rest from various levies and services this financial year. All the radio waves being put up for auction can be used for high-speed 4G services.