The Indian government is all set to mop up a whopping Rs. 77,814.80 crore after auctions for radio waves concluded yesterday with Reliance Jio emerging the highest bidder for spectrum having committed Rs. 57,123 crore.

Total quantity of spectrum for which right to use was acquired is 855.60 MHz.

“The value of the spectrum for which there are winning bids is Rs 77,814.80 crore. Hence, incremental bids for Rs 668.20 crore were made,” Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, said in an official statement put out by the government.

According to Prakash, the bidding took place for spectrum in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz bands. The participants did not bid in 700 MHz and 2500 MHz bands.

The three companies that participated in the bidding — and played hard to corner spectrum— were Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone Idea Ltd and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) for the spectrum acquired in this auction will be payable at the rate of 3 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the licensee, excluding revenue from wireline services.

The auction, according to the government, has concluded and the results were provisional subject to scrutiny and final approval.

Bidder-wise details of quantity of spectrum acquired and amounts payable are as follows:

Bidder	Total quantity (MHz)	Total amount  (Rs. crore)
Bharti Airtel Ltd	355.45	18,698.75
Vodafone Idea Ltd	11.80	1,993.40
Reliance JioInfocomm Ltd	488.35	57,122.65

Through this latest round of spectrum acquisition, Reliance Jio claimed company-owned spectrum footprint has increased significantly by 55 per cent to 1,717 MHz (uplink+ downlink).

Jio also said it has achieved “complete spectrum de-risking” with average life of owned spectrum of 15.5 years and that the radio waves were acquired in the “most cost efficient manner” with an effective cost of Rs 60.8 crore per MHz.

Mukesh D Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries, was quoted in a company statement as saying, “Jio has revolutionised the digital landscape of India with the country becoming the fastest adopter of Digital Life. We want to ensure that we keep on enhancing experiences, not only for our existing customers, but also for the next 300 million users that will move to digital services. With our increased spectrum footprint, we are ready to further expand the digital footprint in India as well as get ourselves ready for the imminent 5G rollout.”

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it has picked up radio waves worth Rs 18,699 crore, while rival Vodafone Idea said spectrum acquired by it in five circles will help boost 4G coverage and capacity, a PTI dispatch stated.

 Airtel, in a statement, said it has acquired radio waves entailing 355.45 MHz spectrum across sub GHz, mid band and 2300 MHz bands, arming it with “most formidable” spectrum holding in the country, PTI reported.

The Sunil Mittal-led Airtel further said all of the spectrum would enable the company to deliver 5G services in future.

VodafoneIdea Ltd., according to PTI, did not divulge the amount of radio waves it had bought, but said spectrum acquired by it in five circles will help boost 4G coverage and capacity, enabling the company to offer “superior digital experience” for its customers.

In a statement issued after the conclusion of the spectrum auctions, VIL said it has used “this opportunity to optimise spectrum holding post-merger to create further efficiencies in few circles”.

With the telecom industry gearing up for 5G, VIL hoped that large quantum of spectrum in globally harmonised bands would be made available for all operators in the future at “fair prices”.