The CAG has done wrong in computing a huge loss to the exchequer by taking the recent 3G auction amount as the yardstick, Union IT and telecommunications minister A. Raja said here.
“I cannot directly comment on the CAG report because it has not been tabled in Parliament yet. But going by the media reports, it is clear that the CAG has taken the recent 3G auction figures to assess the value of 2G spectrum given three years ago. How could one have guessed in 2007 that this much could be realised,” asked the minister-under-fire in an interview with this newspaper.
He said it was “technically, logically, fatally wrong” to compare 2G with 3G since the latter “is a scare resource and far more efficient”. There was intense competition among the telecom players in bidding for 3G, which led to the government earning more, Mr Raja argued.
Insisting that licences were issued on the first-come-first-served basis only in accordance with the TRAI norms and the national telecom policy approved by Parliament, he said, “I did no wrong. I will prove my innocence in a court of law. I have confidence in my case. The media is prejudiced and is indulging in a one-sided trial,” Mr Raja said.
“The truth is that I broke the cartel and paved the way for a telecom revolution by bringing in new players in 2G allocation, which led to a low-cost regime,” the minister said. He pointed out that while the media was “so excited” about the CAG report even before it was placed before Parliament, the press had ignored his ministry’s detailed affidavit in the Supreme Court “rebutting all the charges point by point”.