Spectrum auction: Govt gets bids of Rs 39,300 crore on Day 1

February 03, 2014 23:37

The government has received bids worth Rs 39,300 crore on the first day of spectrum auction with strong interest for 900 Mhz airwaves, which may help it curb the fiscal deficit.

"Bids worth over Rs 39,300 crore were received today. We are confident of exceeding the budget target," Telecom Secretary M F Farooqui told PTI.

The budget for 2013-14 has put revenue target of Rs 40,874 crore from spectrum sale in this fiscal.

The country's fiscal deficit at Rs 5.16 lakh crore has already crossed 95 per cent of budget target in the first nine months of 2013-14.

Bids for spectrum in 900 Mhz band were worth over Rs 16,000 crore and for that in 1800 Mhz band were about Rs 23,000 crore, a senior government official told PTI.

According to a DoT report, in 900 Mhz band, 16 blocks each have been put under the hammer in Delhi and Mumbai circles, while 14 blocks in Kolkata circle.

For more efficient 900 Mhz airwaves, which drew no takers in the previous auction, the Mumbai circle saw the maximum increase of 44 per cent to Rs 473.24 crore per Mhz against base price of Rs 328 crore per Mhz.

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