The bid for the pan-India spectrum for 3G telephony on Friday crossed Rs 15,400 crore amid hopes that the auction would be concluded in the next one or two days as demand is in excess only in Delhi along with few smaller circles.
The all-India bid at the end of 30th day of auction stood at Rs 15,416.56 crore and the revenue to the government at this price would be Rs 62,254 crore. The government had estimated a revenue of Rs 35,000 crore from sale of both 3G radio waves and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum.
Among the metros and A category circles, the demand for spectrum is excess only in Delhi, for which the last bid was Rs 2,885.68 crore, and in some of the B and C category circles, indicating that the final price may be discovered in the next one or two days.
When contacted, sources in the department of telecom (DoT) said that it should end in couple of days but it cannot be said with certainty as during the auction any player can come back and put in a bid for any of the eligible circles. Mumbai continued to be the most expensive service area as its bid stood at Rs 2,939.59 crore and the price may not go up further as the demand is in the negative zone. The base price for a national 3G licence was fixed at a low Rs 3,500 crore. — PTI