I&B Ministry
Rs 64,840 crore expected as revenue from spectrum auction
NEW DELHI: The estimated revenue from the auction of spectrum is targeted at Rs 64,840 crore (excluding 2100 MHz spectrum) of which Rs 16,000 crore is expected to be released in the current financial year.
The reserve price approved is Rs 3,646 crore pan-India per MHZ in 800 MHz, Rs 3,980 crore for 900 MHz band pan-India excluding Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Jammu and Kashmir; Rs 2,191 crore pan-India (excluding Maharashtra and West Bengal) in 1800 MHz band.
The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of the Department of Telecom to proceed with auction in 800, 900 & 1800 MHz bands.
The quantum of spectrum to be put to auction is 103.75 MHz in 800 MHz band in all service areas, 177.8 MHz in 17 LSAs in 900 MHz band and 99.2 MHz in 15 LSAs in 1800 MHz band. Thus a total of 380.75 MHz in 800,900 & 1800 MHz is being put to auction.
Payment terms, eligibility criteria and auction objectives shall be as in the previous auction of February 2014.
The cabinet also decided that intent to put 2100 MHz to simultaneous auction may be announced along with auction of other bands. Details of this will be announced later on.
The government has set itself the following objectives for the auctions:
• Obtain a market determined price of apectrum in various bands through a transparent process;
• Ensure efficient use of spectrum and avoid hoarding;
• Stimulate competition in the sector;
• Promote rollout of the respective services;
• Maximise revenue proceeds from the auctions within the set parameters.
Eligibility Criterion
• Any licensee that holds a UAS/ CMTS/ UL(AS)/UL licence with authorization for Access Services for that Service Area; or
• Any licensee that fulfils the eligibility for obtaining a Unified License with authorisation for Access Services; or
• Any entity that gives an undertaking to obtain a Unified License for access service authorisation through a New Entrant Nominee as per the DoT guidelines/licence conditions. Can bid for the Spectrum (subject to other provisions of the Notice).
Payment Terms
Successful bidders shall make the payment in any of the following two options:
a) Full upfront payment within 10 days of declaration of final price or pre-payment of one or more annual instalments; or
b) Deferred payment, subject to the following conditions:
(i) An upfront payment; of 33 per cent in the case of 1800MHz band, and 25 per cent in case of 900MHz and 800 MHz; of the final bid amount shall be made within 10 days of declaration of successful bidders and final price;
(ii) There shall be a moratorium of two years for payment of balance amount of one time charges for the spectrum, which shall be recovered in 10 equal annual instalments.
(iii) The first instalment of the balance due shall become due on the third anniversary of the scheduled date of the first payment. Subsequent instalment shall become due on the same date of each following year. Prepayment of one or more instalments will be allowed on each annual anniversary date of the first upfront payment, based upon the principle that the net present value of the payment is protected.
I&B Ministry
India turns up the heat on piracy, orders Telegram to axe 3,142 channels and blocks 800 websites
New legal teeth, nodal officers and notices to intermediaries signal that the government is done playing nice with copyright thieves
NEW DELHI: India’s war on film piracy just got significantly more aggressive. The government has ordered Telegram to remove 3,142 channels distributing pirated content, blocked access to around 800 websites through internet service providers, and put the full weight of freshly sharpened legislation behind the crackdown. The message from New Delhi is unambiguous: the free ride for copyright thieves is over.
Minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan spelled out the legal architecture to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023, he said, now contains specific provisions designed to make piracy a genuinely painful proposition. Sections 6AA and 6AB prohibit unauthorised recording and transmission of films, with violations attracting a minimum of three months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3 lakh. At the upper end, offenders face three years behind bars and fines of up to 5 per cent of a film’s audited gross production cost — a figure that, for a big-budget production, could run into crores.
The legislation also gives the government powers to act against intermediaries hosting infringing content, by notifying them under Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and compelling takedowns and blocking actions. Under Section 79(3)(b), intermediaries are legally required to remove or disable access to unlawful content upon receiving government notice or court orders. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, add a further layer of obligation, requiring platforms to ensure their services are not used to host or distribute content that violates copyright or proprietary rights.
To put enforcement into practice, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has established a dedicated institutional mechanism, complete with nodal officers to receive complaints. Copyright holders, authorised representatives or individuals can report piracy through a prescribed format, after which the government issues notices to intermediaries to disable access to infringing links.
The most headline-grabbing action came on 11 March 2026, when Telegram was formally notified under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and directed to remove and disable 3,142 channels found to be distributing unauthorised content belonging to OTT platforms, content owners and producers. The complaints that triggered the action came from OTT platforms including JioCinema and Amazon Prime Video, which alleged that copyrighted films, web series and other material were being shared on the platform on a massive scale. Telegram’s architecture, with its large file-sharing limits and capacity for user anonymity, has made it a favoured vehicle for exactly this kind of large-scale piracy.
The Telegram action sits within a broader pattern of escalating enforcement. Just days before the Lok Sabha statement, the ministry banned five OTT platforms for streaming obscene content: MoodXVIP, Koyal Playpro, Digi Movieplex, Feel and Jugnu. In July 2025, the Centre ordered the blocking of 25 OTT platforms accused of streaming obscene, vulgar or pornographic material, a list that included ALTT, ULLU, Big Shots App, Desiflix, Boomex, Navarasa Lite, Gulab App, Kangan App, Bull App, Jalva App, ShowHit, Wow Entertainment, Look Entertainment, Hitprime, Feneo, ShowX, Sol Talkies, Adda TV, HotX VIP, Hulchul App, MoodX, NeonX VIP, Fugi, Mojflix and Triflicks.
Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provides the regulatory hook for those actions, prohibiting platforms from hosting content that is obscene, pornographic, invasive of privacy, gender-harassing, racially or ethnically objectionable, or that promotes hatred and violence.
For an industry that loses billions of rupees annually to piracy, the direction of travel is welcome. The question, as always, is not whether the laws exist, but whether the enforcement machinery can keep pace with the ingenuity of those determined to circumvent it. Three thousand channels down, and the pirates are already busy opening three thousand more.
