Why does the government own the spectrum?

Jio purchased 488.35 MHz (megahertz) of airwaves across three bands (800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2300 MHz) for Rs 57,122.65 crore. This was highest among all telco who collectively bought 855.7 megahertz (MHz) of airwaves for Rs 77,814 crore over two days.

Just like natural resources are divided for their fair use, the spectrum is also required to be auctioned by the government. The government auctions it to those companies that can use it to offer several services and recoup their investments . The first spectrum auction in India was conducted for 900MHz band, in 1994.

BSNL paid the Indian government ₹ ₹101.87 billion (equivalent to ₹190 billion or US$2.5 billion in 2020) for spectrum in 20 circles and MTNL got spectrum for 3G services in 2 circles, Delhi and Mumbai.