Airtel, VI stocks fall, Reliance shares gain; Cabinet OKs spectrum auction at Rs 96,000 cr base price

Shares of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea fell on February 9, while Reliance Industries gained, after the Union Cabinet approved spectrum auctions in eight bands for mobile phone services. The government set the base price at Rs 96,317.65 crore, said information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur.

Vodafone Idea shares fell as much as 1 percent at Rs 14.7 apiece in the late morning trade, while Airtel stock was at Rs 1,122.45 on the NSE, down 1.7 percent. RIL outperformed other telecom operators, at a share price of Rs 2,922.5, up 0.7 percent.

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Airtel is currently in the process of rolling out its nationwide 5G network. The telco also needs to renew spectrum worth Rs 4,200 crore this year. The spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands in six circles, namely Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal, and Assam, is set to expire this year.

Spectrum of Vodafone Idea is also expiring in West Bengal and UP West, for which the company needs permission to continue using the airwaves.

Airtel bought spectrum in the last auctions, for which liabilities were due in annual installments from 2026-27 to 2031-32. This carried an interest rate of 10 percent and an average residual life of more than seven years.

Also Read | Cabinet gives spectrum auction nod for 96k crore, allocates additional 5 MHz for Railways

Spectrum, held by certain companies undergoing insolvency processes, that are expiring this year, will also be put on auction, the minister said. All the available spectrum in 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300, 2500, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands will be put on auction.

There are 13 crore 5G subscribers in India and the base is expected to grow, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said, and added that the spectrum auction will improve the 5G services. Speaking at the Cabinet decision press briefing, he further said that 4.2 lakh sites have been deployed by telecom operators so far.

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