3G bids up 43% from base on sixth day

The government is all set to reap handsome revenues from the 3G spectrum auction with the pan-Indian licence bid crossing Rs 5,000 crore mark on the sixth day of the bidding process.

At the current price the government will get over Rs 20,700 crore from the sale of 3G spectrum and there is still more potential for the bid to go up. The government targets Rs 30,000-35,000 crore from the sale of radio waves for 3G telephony and broadband wireless access services.

The all-India licence bid price jumped 43 per cent -- the highest rise since the start of auction -- to Rs 5,016 crore over the base price of Rs 3,500 crore. Today's price is 3.82 per cent higher over the yesterday's highest bid of Rs 4,831 crore.

Gujarat continued to be the most lucrative circle at a bid value of Rs 512.61 crore, pipping Delhi which received bid at Rs 493.09 crore at the end of round 34. The government has concluded six rounds of spectrum auction today.

According to details available with the Department of Telecom, Tamil Nadu logged the second highest bid at Rs 483.79, closely followed by Maharashtra at 483.34 crore. Mumbai and Andhra were clubbed together at a bid of Rs 469.57 crore. Karnataka received the bid at Rs 460.33 crore.

Uttar Pradesh (East) remained the highest valued B circle at Rs 209.23 crore, followed by Rajasthan at Rs 202 crore, Madhya Pradesh at Rs 183.40 crore, Uttar Pradesh (West) at Rs 182.96 crore and Kerala at Rs 179.51 crore.

Kolkata got a bid of 167.47 crore and Haryana at Rs 164.04 crore. Punjab and West Bengal were at the same bid price of Rs 123.63 crore.

On the other hand, Himachal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir continued to see negative demand at Rs 30 crore bid levels, except Bihar, where it was Rs 32.44 crore.

The government is auctioning three slots of 3G airwaves in 17 telecom service areas. For broadband airwaves, only two slots across the country are up for sale, which will begin after the 3G auction.