Lok Sabha Question No. 42 (STARRED), answered on 2019-02-06
Subject: New Telecom Policy
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: DHARMENDRA YADAV, SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.42 TO BE ANSWERED ON 6 TH  FEBRUARY, 2019

## NEW TELECOM POLICY

- †*42.   SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV: SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  telecom  sector  is  passing  through  a  crisis  due  to  heavy  debt,  tariff  war  and irrational spectrum costs and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether  there  is  a  need  to  ponder  over  the  policy  measures  to  minimise  the  over  bidding  of assets during auctions and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to formulate a New Telecom Policy (NTP) to develop the telecom sector as an economy booster rather than a revenue generator;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the time by which NTP is likely to be framed and implemented; and
- (e) whether the new telecom policy would present a roadmap for the development of the telecom sector in the next five years which is facing a serious financial crisis and if so, the details thereof along with the salient features of the new telecom policy?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

Contd………2/-

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (e) OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *42  FOR  6 TH   FEBRUARY,  2019    ON  'NEW TELECOM POLICY'.

(a) & (b) The Committee of Secretaries (CoS) of Government of India had discussed the issue relating  to  stress  in  balance  sheet  in  several  sectors  including  Telecom,  in  its  meeting  held  on 29.03.2017.  RBI  Circular  dated  18.04.2017  had  also  directed  the  Banks  to  review  the  Telecom sector in light of stressed financial condition. Consequently, an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) was constituted on 16.05.2017 with following terms of reference:

-  To examine systemic issues affecting viability and repayment capacity in telecom sector and furnish recommendations for resolution of stressed assets,
-  Policy reforms and strategic interventions for Telecom sector.

The Inter-Ministerial Group submitted its report on 31.08.2017. As per the IMG Report, the total debt of the telecom industry was Rs 7.88 lakh crores.

The Key Recommendations of IMG inter alia are as follows:

1. TSPs may be given a one- time opportunity to opt for higher number of instalments (16) instead of the then permitted 10 instalments.
2. DoT may issue appropriate clarification that only the gain or profit arising from trade of spectrum shall constitute as part of revenue for the purpose of calculation of AGR.
3. One-year MCLR of SBI may be adopted with effect from the date of its introduction by RBI i.e. April 01, 2016 in place of PLR.

As  per  the  present  Tariff  framework  in  the  country,  the  tariff  for  mobile  services  is  under forbearance except for national roaming, leased line, and mobile number porting charges, for which ceiling  tariffs  have  been  specified.  Mobile  operators  have  the  flexibility  to  offer  different  tariff plans/schemes depending on the market conditions and other commercial considerations.

Reserve Price for  different  bands  of  spectrum  for  auction  is  fixed  by  the  Government  after considering  the  recommendations  of  Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI).    Bidding  for spectrum is done by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) based on their requirement of spectrum and within the Spectrum Cap stipulated by the Government.

(c) to (e) The  National  Digital  Communications  Policy  (NDCP)-2018  has  been  notified  in  the Gazette of India on 22 nd October, 2018.

The policy aims to support India's transition to a digitally empowered economy and society and to achieve the following Strategic Objectives by 2022:

1. Provisioning of Broadband for All.
2. Creating 4 Million additional jobs in the Digital Communications sector.
3. Enhancing the contribution of the Digital Communications sector to 8% of India's GDP from ~ 6% in 2017.
4. Propelling India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development Index of ITU from 134 in 2017.
5. Enhancing India's contribution to Global Value Chains.
6. Ensuring Digital Sovereignty.

The National Digital Communications Policy 2018 inter alia also seeks to rationalize taxes, levies and differential duties to incentivize local manufacturing of equipment, networks and devices to the extent of domestic value addition.

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