BWA pan-India bid at Rs 12,774 cr

NEW DELHI: The pan-India bid price for broadband wireless airwaves ( BWA) touched Rs 12,774.57 crore on Thursday after two weeks of auction, ensuring the government revenues to the tune of Rs 38,323.71 crore from broadband airwaves alone. The total revenues for the government from 3G auctions stood at over Rs 60,000 crore.

The government had estimated to garner Rs 35,000 crore from both 3G and BWA auctions combined. The pan-India bid price for a broadband licence increased by 629% on Tuesday.

Delhi and Mumbai circles continued to be the most sought after, with the regions posting a record bid price of Rs 2,221.02 crore and Rs 2,272.95 crore, respectively against the reserve price of Rs 160 crore.

The bid price for Tamil Nadu also crossed the Rs 2,000 crore mark in just two weeks of bidding. This is higher than the final bid price recorded in the circle during 3G auctions after a month of bidding.

The government has put on sale a total of three slots of BWA spectrum across 22 telecom circles. Of the three slots, one slot has been reserved for state owned telcos - BSNL and MTNL.

About 11 companies including Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Tata Communications, Qualcomm and Aircel are bidding for BWA spectrum, higher than 9 companies that bid for 3G.