Government may be on target on telecom revenues despite weak auction

Despite a tepid response to the recent spectrum sale, the department of telecommunications (DoT) is still likely to earn around Rs 1.20 lakh crore as revenue receipts this fiscal on the back of past auctions and regulatory levies with state-run BSNL alone accounting for half of it.

The government had targeted revenue receipts of Rs 1.20 lakh crore from the telecom sector in the interim budget presented in February. The figure is likely to be retained in the full budget to be presented later this month, officials said, asking not to be named.