The non-tax revenue collection from the telecom sector has been pegged 33 per cent lower at Rs 82,443 crore for the coming fiscal, according to the Budget documents, which also placed the revised FY25 realisations a tad higher than originally expected at the beginning of the fiscal.
The revised estimates for FY25 place revenue from telecom (under the head 'other communications services') marginally higher at Rs 1.23 lakh crore against the originally-expected 1.20 lakh crore.
The estimates for FY26, however, have been set at Rs 82,442.84 crore, which is 33 per cent lower than FY25.
Asked about the reason for estimates being pegged lower for FY26, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the revenue from telecom that goes straight to the consolidated fund of India is mainly from two heads, the AGR dues and spectrum auctions.
"In the last two years, we have auctioned a huge amount of spectrum, with 5G coming into play. And it's only when that spectrum gets saturated that you will se