Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday ruled out any immediate government bailout for Vodafone Idea (Vi), stating that the Centre has no plans to raise its stake in the debt-laden telecom company. “There is no such proposal to increase the government’s shareholding in Vi,” Scindia said on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress 2025, adding that the telco’s future must be steered by market forces rather than state intervention.
Satellite broadband rollout
On the upcoming satellite communications (satcom) ecosystem, Scindia said that the rollout of satellite broadband services in the country now depends on how quickly licensed companies finalise their execution strategies and on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) completing its work on spectrum pricing. “It depends on the players in terms of how quickly they can roll out their execution strategy. One issue that remains is for Trai to finalise spectrum pricing, and that will be done by the regulator,” he noted.
According to the minister, two satcom companies have already been issued licences while another has received a letter of intent (LoI). These include major global and domestic players such as Eutelsat OneWeb, Jio-SES and Starlink, which are expected to bring high-speed broadband to remote corners of the country. The government’s approval for these players marks a significant step in bridging the digital divide through next-generation satellite networks.
Scindia emphasised that the government’s approach to the satcom sector is rooted in enabling innovation while maintaining fair competition. The focus, he said, is on building a robust ecosystem that complements terrestrial networks and strengthens the overall digital infrastructure.
Separately, telecom secretary Neeraj Mittal said that the department has not received any formal complaints from telecom service providers over high spectrum reserve prices. He pointed out that the relatively low data tariffs indicate that spectrum costs are not acting as a deterrent to deployment. Mittal added that the next round of auctions would depend on demand from operators, and that the government is also in talks with satcom firms to resolve pending security issues while finalising allocation modalities.