Telcos Urge Budget 2026 for Licence Fee, GST Cuts to Boost Network Investments

• India's telecom industry seeks regulatory and tax relief in Union Budget 2026-27 to fund next-generation networks.
• COAI proposes cutting licence fees to 0.5%-1% and reducing GST on spectrum/regulatory payments to 5% from 18%.
• These measures are deemed revenue-neutral for the government, freeing capital for 5G rollouts and network expansion.
• Industry also seeks a pause on Digital Bharat Nidhi contributions until the existing corpus is utilized.
• COAI calls for recalibrating spectrum policy to ensure affordability and long-term sustainability for digital infrastructure.

Why It Matters: Telecom industry pushes for significant tax and fee reductions in Budget 2026 to accelerate digital infrastructure growth.