2G auction ends with less than Rs 10,000 cr bids
15 Nov 2012 6:37 AM IST
The 2G mobile phone spectrum auction ended on Wednesday with half of the airwaves on offer remaining unsold and the government getting just about one-third of the targeted revenue. According to preliminary estimates, it received bids worth ‘much-less’ than Rs 10,000 crore in an auction that ended in two days, a far cry from the 35-day bidding for 3G spectrum in 2010 that got Rs 67,719 crore.
Sources said that the metro cities of Delhi and Mumbai, which account for 40 per cent of the base price of Rs 14,000 crore for 5 MHz of 2G spectrum, drew no bids at all. Bids in most of the circles were around the base price with the exception of UP East, UP West and Bihar.
The government was targeting Rs 28,000 crore from the sale of 2G spectrum in the GSM band. Videocon and Idea won spectrum in seven circles while Telenor got spectrum in four circles. Airtel and Vodafone won spectrum in one circle each.
None of the five companies in the fray bid for nationwide spectrum, for which the reserve price was set at Rs 14,000 crore for 5 Mhz airwaves.
The government had put on auction a substantial part of the spectrum that was freed when the Supreme Court cancelled 122 mobile permits in February. These had been issued to nine players in 2008 by the then Telecom Minister, A Raja.
The CAG had said in 2010 that the decision to give away spectrum at rates fixed in 2001 could have resulted in a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer, taking the price garnered in the 3G auction as benchmark.
Sources said that the metro cities of Delhi and Mumbai, which account for 40 per cent of the base price of Rs 14,000 crore for 5 MHz of 2G spectrum, drew no bids at all. Bids in most of the circles were around the base price with the exception of UP East, UP West and Bihar.
The government was targeting Rs 28,000 crore from the sale of 2G spectrum in the GSM band. Videocon and Idea won spectrum in seven circles while Telenor got spectrum in four circles. Airtel and Vodafone won spectrum in one circle each.
None of the five companies in the fray bid for nationwide spectrum, for which the reserve price was set at Rs 14,000 crore for 5 Mhz airwaves.
The government had put on auction a substantial part of the spectrum that was freed when the Supreme Court cancelled 122 mobile permits in February. These had been issued to nine players in 2008 by the then Telecom Minister, A Raja.
The CAG had said in 2010 that the decision to give away spectrum at rates fixed in 2001 could have resulted in a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer, taking the price garnered in the 3G auction as benchmark.
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