Jio Leads Spectrum Auction with Rs 3,000 Cr EMD

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Reliance Jio has deposited the highest earnest money of Rs 3,000 crore for the upcoming spectrum auction, which gives the company the potential to bid for maximum radiowaves, according to details published by the Department of Telecom on Thursday.

According to pre-qualified bidder details released by the DoT, Bharti Airtel has submitted the earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs 1,050 crore and Vodafone Idea (VIL) of Rs 300 crore.

Companies get points based on the EMD amount they have deposited, which enables them to bid for the number of circles and quantity of spectrum they want. Higher points mean a higher capability to place bids.

Reliance Jio has led the chart in all the spectrum auctions in which it has participated to date.

The company has a networth of Rs 2.31 lakh crore, while that of Airtel is Rs 86,260.8 crore.

The networth of VIL is in the negative zone at Rs 1.16 crore, as per the official document.

The government has scheduled an auction of eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of about Rs 96,317 crore from June 6.

All the available spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands are part of the auction.

The total frequencies being put under the hammer are valued at Rs 96,317 crore on base price.

The spectrum will be assigned for 20 years and successful bidders will be allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual instalments.

The DoT has provided an option to surrender the spectrum acquired through the upcoming auction after a minimum period of 10 years.