The department of telecommunications has extended till August 17 the time period for telcos to pay for the 5G spectrum bought during the auction. The last date for payment has been extended because of a bank holiday in Mumbai and Maharashtra on August 16 on the occasion of Parsi New Year (Shahenshahi).

While two of the participants in the 5G auction — Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea — are based out of Mumbai, Bharti Airtel has its headquarters in Delhi NCR. Adani Networks is based out of Ahmedabad. On August 5, the DoT issued demand notices to make payments by August 16 to all the four companies that have acquired spectrum.

The telcos have been given the option to pay in 20 equal annual instalments or they can choose to pay the entire amount or part of it upfront. In case the firms opt for 20 equal instalments, Reliance Jio’s first tranche will be Rs 7,864 crore, Bharti Airtel Rs 3,848 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs 1,679 crore and Adani Data Networks Rs 18.94 crore, the notices put up on the DoT website showed.

The Adani group company is expected to pay its entire bid amount of Rs 212 crore.

HZL stake sale

The Centre has shortlisted six merchant bankers for the government’s residual stake sale of 29.53 per cent in Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL), an official notice by Dipam said. ICICI Securities, SBI Capital Markets, HDFC Bank, IIFL Securities, Axis Capital and Citigroup Global Markets will make their presentations via video conferencing before an inter-ministerial group on August 12.

The bankers will be finalised after the presentation and opening of financial bids the same day. The selected investment bank would have to assist the government on the timing and modalities of the divestment among others.