5G bidding race: Adani arm, Jio, Airtel, Vi line up

According to its filing with the DoT, the subsidiary has a net worth of Rs 248.35 crore. Bharti Airtel’s net worth as of March 31 is Rs 75, 887 crore with a paid up capital at Rs 2,795 crore while Reliance Jio’s net worth is Rs 1,97,790 crore, and paid up capital stands at Rs 1,54,125. Loss making Vodafone Idea has a negative net worth of Rs 80, 918 crore with paid up capital of Rs 32,119 crore. Last week, while confirming its participation in the 5G auctions, the Adani Group had said, “As India prepares to roll out next generation 5G services through this auction, we are one of the many applicants participating in the open bidding process. We are participating in the 5G spectrum auction to provide private network solutions along with enhanced cyber security in the airport, ports & logistics, power generation, transmission, distribution, and various manufacturing operations… Our intention is not to be in the consumer mobility space”.

The spectrum auction, scheduled to start on July 26, may see aggressive bids for some frequency bands, with the entry of Adani Data Networks and established players Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel looking to strengthen their hold in the industry. The auction will be held for spectrum in the frequencies of 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 3,300 MHz and 26 GHz bands. At reserve price, spectrum is valued at around Rs 4.5 lakh crore. The government is expecting to mop up around Rs 80,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore in the auctions, a senior official had earlier said.

Payments for spectrum can be made in 20 equal annual instalments to be paid in advance at the beginning of each year. Bidders would be given an option to surrender the spectrum after 10 years with no future liabilities with respect to balance instalments.