Telecommunications.

Indian telecommunications is a capital-heavy network-service utility serving 1.2 billion subscriptions and roughly 25 GB of data per user per month, generating an estimated ₹4.9 lakh crore of value added in FY26 (1.6% of national GVA) on the national-accounts envelope basis, though the bottom-up build from company accounts reaches only about ₹3.2 lakh crore. The industry has moved from a competitive, tariff-declining market of twelve operators in FY10 to a revenue duopoly of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel (together ~83% of revenue), with Vodafone Idea kept alive largely through government equity conversion and BSNL surviving on state revival packages. Growth since FY20 has come almost entirely from ARPU repair through three tariff rounds and rising data consumption rather than subscriber growth, which is essentially flat; GVA compounded at 9.8% over FY20-26. The base case sees GVA compounding at ~9% to FY30 and ~8.5% thereafter to ₹10.5 lakh crore by FY35, driven by continued tariff increases, 5G/fibre penetration and enterprise/cloud demand, with the sector's fortunes hinging on Vodafone Idea's survival, interest rates on ~₹4.5 lakh crore of sector net debt, and a possible Jio Platforms IPO.

Subscribers

1.2 billion · FY26

Wireless subscribers

1.16 billion · FY26

Blended ARPU

~250 ₹ per month · FY26

Industry gross revenue

~3.9 ₹ lakh crore · FY26

Listed PAT

0.73 ₹ lakh crore · FY26

Listed market cap

17.3 ₹ lakh crore · Jul-2026

Capex

~0.9 ₹ lakh crore · FY26

EBITDA margins at the two leaders

~55 % · FY26