3G bid price up 172%, touches Rs 9,521 cr

NEW DELHI: The pan-India bid for 3G spectrum on Friday touched Rs 9,521.02 crore, up 172% from Rs 3,500 crore, the original base price.

Mumbai recorded the highest bids of Rs 1,506.41 crore on the 18th day of the auction, followed by Delhi with a base price of Rs 1,459.96 crore against the reserve price of Rs 320 crore for both the circles.

At this price, the government is assured to garner revenues worth Rs 38,452.75 crore against the budget estimate of Rs 35,000 crore. The government completed four rounds on Friday and 104 rounds in total since the launch of auction on April 9. The auctions are likely to be concluded this week.

Nine mobile telephone firms, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Reliance Communication and Tata Teleservices, are bidding for three to four slots of 3G spectrum in each circle that will allow subscribers to download hi-speed data and stream videos on mobile phones. Radio waves are being auctioned across 22 circles.

Telecom minister A Raja indicated earlier this week that the revenues from the 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) auctions may cross Rs 50,000-55,000 crore. The successful bidders would be allotted airwaves in September after the defence forces vacate the spectrum.