Montek backs Sibal on 2G scam figure

NEW DELHI: Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Sunday said CAG’s estimate of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss in the 2G spectrum scam was a “way out unrealistic number” .

Ahluwalia, who backed telecom minister Kapil Sibal’s view that the CAG’s estimate was “utterly erroneous” , said focusing on revenue loss would be an analytical red herring as revenue maximisation was not the target of spectrum sale.

Earlier this month, Sibal had said the actual loss to the exchequer was nil. His comments had stirred a political controversy prompting the CAG to say it stood by its report.

In a TV interview, Ahluwalia said, “The loss of consumer benefit (if spectrum was sold at a higher price) would be ten times the loss of revenue. Higher telecom penetration translated into huge benefits for the rest of the economy.”
Referring to the equity sale by Swan and Unitech after the firms bagged 2G spectrum, Ahluwalia said, “Swan and Unitech simply issued new equity which lowered their own equity in the companies substantially .”

He said the two companies issued fresh equity to companies that bought into them and the money did not go to the promoters . “It (the money) went into new companies and it is meant to be used to roll out telecom services. They did not sell their equity. They expanded the equity of the company and brought in new people. That’s not the same thing,” Ahluwalia said.

He said the CAG had rightly criticised implementation of the first-come first-served policy. Ahluwalia said if the first-come first-served policy was perfectly implemented, it would bring in a lot of weak players who didn’t have the capacity to utilise the value of the licence and they would then induct others who would utilize the value.