Failure of 2G auction shows economy's direction: Arun Jaitley

AHMEDABAD: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely today said that failure of 2G auction was an indicator of how badly the economy was faring under the UPA government.

"The failure of 2G auction shows mismanagement of telephone sector in 2012 and indicates in which direction this government has taken country's economy," Jaitley said here, talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function.

"Any responsible government should be worried about it, it should introspect, but UPA ministers and spokespersons are happy that 2G auction flopped," the BJP leader said.

"They cannot imagine that this failure will lead to increase in fiscal deficit and create a negative impact on the economy."

The 2G auction, which lasted two days, got total bids of Rs 9,407.64 crore, just one-third of the minimum Rs 28,000 crore the government was expecting. The auction was a far cry from the 35-day bidding for the 3G spectrum in 2010 that got Rs 67,719 crore.

BJP had made several allegations of corruption against government on the 2G issue based on the presumptive loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore, given by CAG.