Ambani's Jio biggest buyer in US$11b India airwave sale

[MUMBAI] Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm emerged the top bidder in India's US$11 billion airwaves auction, as the country's largest wireless operator seeks to cement its competitive edge over rivals.

Reliance Jio bought airwaves worth 571.23 billion rupees (S$10.3 billion) of the total 778.2 billion rupees raised in the latest spectrum auction, India's Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. Rival Bharti Airtel spent US$2.6 billion while Vodafone's India unit acquired spectrum worth 19.9 billion rupees.

In all, some 60 per cent of the spectrum offered was sold, according to Mr Prakash, who said the bids came at the floor price - or minimum price that was acceptable to the government. Some spectrum bands also went unsold, as India's wireless carriers held back after years of a price war unleashed by Jio that battered balance sheets.

"Given the Covid scenario and other stress situations the sector is facing," the collection exceeded what the government's expectations, Mr Prakash said. "We are happy the industry is confident and has bid to acquire more" airwaves.

The latest auction - first one since 2016 - will boost the Indian exchequer as the government tries to jump start the economy after the pandemic-induced recession last year. Mr Ambani's conglomerate is flush with funds after it received US$27 billion last year from global investors including Facebook and Google as Mr Ambani seeks to transform Reliance from an energy giant to a tech titan.

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