Budget 2018-19

  DoT requested Supreme Court to give it four weeks so that it can take an “informed decision” whether to proceed with its appeal against an order by Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. The department of telecommunications (DoT) told the Supreme Court on Tuesday it is reconsidering its decision to proceed with an appeal filed against a tribunal order in April 2019 on the issue of recovery of one-time spectrum user charges (SUC) from companies to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore. It requested the court to give the government four weeks so that it can take an “informed decision” whether to proceed with its appeal against an order by Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. The move is significant, as there are pending cases between  telecom companies  (telcos) and the government in various courts involving substantial amount of financial dues. According to sources, the number of cases go to over 200 in the Supreme Court itself. A DoT study done a few y...

  The nearest month any increase could occur is November since OPEC+’s last meeting decided the October volumes OPEC+ is considering going beyond its existing deal to boost production by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) when it meets next week, sources said, at a time when oil prices are near a three-year high and consumers are pressing for more supply. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries andallies led by Russia, known as  OPEC+ , meets on Monday to review output policy. In July, the group agreed to boost output by 400,000 bpd a month to phase out 5.8 million bpd in cuts. Four OPEC+ sources said producers were considering adding more than that deal envisaged, but none gave details on how much more, or when supply would increase. Another OPEC+ source suggested an increase of 800,000 bpd for one month was possible, with zero the next month. The nearest month any increase could occur is November since OPEC+’s last meeting decided the October volumes. “We cannot exc...

  The telecom department had issued demand notes to the three operators on March 8, and the deadline for making the upfront payment was Thursday Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea on Thursday made upfront payments for the spectrum bought in the recently concluded auctions. It is learnt that while Reliance Jio has made a payment of Rs 15,019 crore, Bharti Airtel and Vi paid Rs 6,323 crore and Rs 574 crore, respectively. The  telecom department  had issued demand notes to the three operators on March 8, and the deadline for making the upfront payment was Thursday. Reliance Jio emerged the highest bidder in the 4G telecom spectrum auction, beating incumbents Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea by a wide margin. The Centre would get Rs 77,815 crore from the two-day auction — one of the shortest in a decade. While the amount has exceeded the government expectation, the total mop-up is far below the Rs 3.92 trillion worth of airwaves put up for sale. The spectrum has be...