January 07, 2011 / 19:29 IST
There could have been irregularities in the grant of telecoms licences and spectrum in India in 2008, the telecoms minister said on Friday, a scandal that has forced the government on the backfoot and virtually stalled policymaking.
But Kapil Sibal said he disagreed with the state auditor's estimate of losses to the federal coffers. The auditor had said India could have lost upto USD 39 bn, a sum equivalent to the country's current defence budget."We do believe that prima facie there was something wrong in the procedure adopted in the allocation of 2G spectrum," Sibal told a press conference, referring to the second-generation telecoms technology that was present in 2008.The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has vowed to block the February budget session of parliament if the Congress-led coalition government does not set up a joint parliamentary committee to probe the case.The December parliamentary session was virtually washed out.The telecoms row is only the largest of a raft of corruption cases that has embarrassed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government and which has diverted attention from policymaking. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
