Regulation could cost Indian telcos $50 billion

India’s struggling telecoms operators would be hit by an increased debt burden of nearly $50 billion over the next five years, if controversial proposals by regulators to auction mobile spectrum are carried through, research suggests.

The projection exacerbates growing discord between the nation’s main telecoms companies, including Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and Idea, prompted by the auction rules outlined by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India last month. The figures come ahead of an important meeting of India’s telecoms commission, a body bringing together various parts of the nation’s government, to consider the proposals, which operators say will have disastrous implications for growth in a sector once seen as one of the country’s greatest success stories.