  After the tepid response in the first two rounds of the spectrum auction, the government has a reason to be confident this time around with airwaves auctioned by in the 1800 MHz and 900 MHz bands fetching it bids worth Rs 39,300 crore on the first day.
Eight mobile operators including leading operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular and new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm took part in the auction on Monday.
The government has set the target of Rs 40,874 for 2013-14 crore from spectrum auction in this fiscal.
The 900 Mhz airwaves auction previously fizzled out in the previous auction. According to department of communications (DoT) in 900 Mhz band, 16 blocks each were put to auction in Delhi and Mumbai circles, while 14 blocks in Kolkata circle. Delhi saw an increase of 19.26% over the reserve price, while for Mumbai, the bid price was higher by 44.5% than its base price. The bid for the Kolkata circle came in 38.22% higher than its reserve price of Rs 173.16 crore per MHz.
The DoT has put on the block about 385 MHz of radiowaves in the 1800 MHz band in 22 circles and 46 MHz in the 900 MHz band in three circles of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
Vodafone presently held the 900 Mhz spectrum put under the auction along with, Martel and Loop whose licences that are expiring in November.
The Supreme Court had ordered the government to put all airwaves freed from cancellation of 122 2G licences in February 2012. Sectrum in 1800 Mhz band was put for auction following a Supreme Court order of February 2013.
The 2G spectrum base price saw marginal rise Bihar from Rs 7.40 crore to Rs 7.99 per block, Gujarat from Rs 28.60 crore to Rs 29.74 crore, UP (West) from Rs 12.40 to Rs 13.14 crore and West Bengal from Rs 4.20 to Rs 4.24 per block.
Seven rounds took place on day one, with each round of 60 minutes. There was a 20-minute break between rounds.
In the 1800 MHz band, the total bids made by the eight operators for 22 circles came to Rs 25,233 crore. Demand was strong for Gujarat, where demand was in excess of the available 60 blocks. Metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata saw reasonable demand; the eighth round of the auction will resume on Tuesday.
Status Day 1 |