After 68 rounds of bidding spread over 10 days, the government on Thursday said it had concluded the spectrum auction.
The government has mopped up more than Rs 61,000 crore, though the exact figure had not been arrived at yet, Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui told CNBC-TV18.
Also read: Vodafone, Airtel win 2G spectrum auctionThe government had put up spectrum in the 900 Mhz band (45 Mhz) and the 1800 Mhz band (385 Mhz) on the block and should be pleased with the response, given the aggressive bidding that was often witnessed in several of India’s 22 telecom circles.
Sources said government had secured bids worth up to Rs 37,572 crore for 1800 Mhz spectrum and Rs 23,589 crore for 900 Mhz spectrum, clearly higher than the Rs 40,000 crore target it was aiming to achieve from the auction.
The government would get Rs 18,000 crore this fiscal as upfront payment, sources added.Aggressive bidding was witnessed in the scare 900 Mhz band in the Mumbai and Delhi circles, where licenses are set to expire in November this year. “The bids were largely to protect the [incumbents’] businesses,” Jaideep Ghosh, Partner, KPMG India, told CNBC-TV18.
Part of the reason why the sale attracted strong competition among telecom companies was because of the government’s decision to not disclose details about future auctions, Mahesh Uppal, Director, Com First, said.
“Recall that most of the bids, barring Reliance Jio, were from incumbents who have already invested a lot. With no clarity on when further auction would be held, they had to bid aggressively. This is something that they cannot afford and is a negative for the sector,” he said.
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