Jio places the highest EMD in the 5G auction at Rs 14,000 crore, while Adani places Rs 100 crore

According to information released by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Monday, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel, Adani Data Networks, and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have each made earnest money deposits (EMDs) of Rs 14,000 crore, Rs 5,500 crore, Rs 100 crore, and Rs 2,200 crore, respectively.

The EMDs are a component of the applications that the applicants submitted to the DoT in order to take part in the upcoming 5G spectrum auction, which will begin on July 26. The EMD quantum provides the applicant with eligibility points, based on which it can target a given quantum of airwaves in select or all available bands in specific or all circles, and is therefore a good indicator of a company’s bidding strategy and spectrum purchasing capacity.

According to analysts, a telecom can typically target spectrum in the 5G sale that is worth up to eight to nine times their individual EMDs. According to the EMD filings on the DoT website, Jio has accumulated 159830 eligibility points with the highest deposits, while Airtel has accumulated 66330. Adani, a recent entry, has 1650 points compared to Vi’s 29370 points.

The earnest money deposit suggests that Jio, the largest telecom company in India based on user volume, may be placing extremely aggressive bids in the upcoming auctions, but Adani Group might be attempting to acquire the barest amount of spectrum necessary to build a private network. Adani Data Networks’ EMD of 100 crore indicates that they have a low and limited requirement for spectrum.