The bidding for 2G spectrum on the first day failed to enthuse the telcos as the government got only 9,200 crore which is around 50 percent of the target. There were no takers for Mumbai, Delhi, and Karnataka cicles.

Government was expecting to sell at least one slot of 5 Mhz pan India which would have fetched Rs 14,000 crore. The Government received bids for only 98 slots out of 176 blocks of spectrum that were put to auction.

The dull response could be gauged from the fact that the winning price in most of the other 21 circles did not go beyond the base price fixed by the Government. That means fresh amount was quoted for these circles.

The government is now pinning its hope on the bid for the spectrum which operators like Idea Cellular, Videocon and Telenor would be looking forward to retain after losing licences following the Supreme Court’s verdict. The auction will restart on Wednesday after Diwali.

According to the experts, the lukewarm response to the auction has lot to do with the higher reserve price, ill-timing of the auction, adverse market conditions and the pressure of the Supreme Court.

Some of the older players are dragging their feet for the bidding because of the steep in the reserve price and this is the why few circles have been ignored.  The government had set a reserve price of Rs 14,000 crore for 5 mega hertz of spectrum across all circles.

COAI general secretary R S Mathews said the dull response on the first day was entirely expected as the high base price had its impact.