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BWA auction: Upward Spiral to over Rs 120 billion confirms service providers belief in Internet growth
NEW DELHI: With the Pan-India total crossing Rs 120 billion to close at just over Rs 122.57 billion, the Bandwidth Access (BWA) auction has proved the confidence providers have in the growth of the Internet in the country, even as the bidding is expected to close shortly.
After 110 rounds on the fourteenth, the bids for Mumbai and Delhi crossed the Rs Rs 20 billion mark with Rs 21529.5 million and Rs 21010.2 million respectively.
Tamil Nadu closed at Rs 19310.6 million, Karnataka was at Rs 15279.8 million, Andhra Pradesh clocked Rs 9977.8 million; and Gujarat was at Rs 5783.1 million.
While Kerala was at Rs 2437 million; East Uttar Pradesh closed at Rs 1329.5 million; Madhya Pradesh clocked Rs 1163 million, and Haryana closed at Rs 1118.7 million.
Rajasthan closed at Rs 935.4 million, Bihar at Rs 983 million; West Bengal clocked Rs 643 million; Orissa closed with Rs 630 million, Assam at Rs 308.3 million; the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir closed at Rs 198.7 million each, and Himachal Pradesh was at 194.9 million.
The bids for four service centres remained unchanged: the rest of Maharashtra at Rs 9156.4 million; Kolkata at Rs 5232 million; Punjab at Rs 3322.7 million; and West Uttar Pradesh at Rs 1784.7 million.
The rest of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kolkata, Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Orissa are unlikely to see any increase with no applications for price increment for tomorrow’s rounds.
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and North-East are expected to see minimal increase with bids of just over Rs one million each.
The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Augere (Mauritius) Limited, Bharti Airtel, Infotel Broadband Services Private Limited, Qualcomm Incorporated, Reliance WiMax Limited, Spice Internet Service, Provider Private Limited, Tata Communications Internet Services Limited, Tikona Digital Networks Private Limited and Vodafone Essar Limited.
The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial operations from 1 September.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
