The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has approached the Ministry of Finance to extend financial incentives to the telecom industry which is facing huge debt burden.
DoT has requested the Ministry of Finance to provide tax holiday for new investments to be used for developing telecom infrastructure. The service providers which started operations between 1995 and 2004 have been provided a 15-year tax holiday by the government under section 80 IA of the Income Tax Act. DoT has urged the Ministry of Finance to remove the said clause, and extend the benefit to the companies which are making fresh investments in the industry.
In addition, DoT has suggested allowing telecom companies to avail of viability gap funding, like other infrastructure companies.
