Teleom companies put in bids worth a total of about Rs 45,000 crore on the second day of the auction today, with premium 900 Mhz band in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata witnessing continuing demand.
"We are very happy the way auction is moving forward. We hope that we will get enough revenue to make sure that the Finance Minister (P Chidambaram) has a big smile on his face," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters after closing of bidding rounds on day 2.
The budget 2013-14 had set a spectrum revenue target of Rs 40,874 crore for this financial year.
The fiscal deficit at Rs 5.16 lakh crore has crossed 95 per cent of budget target in the first nine months of 2013-14.
"We estimate bids of approximate Rs 45,000 crore were received today. The auction momentum is good, we have seen excess demand for 900 MHz spectrum and also for 1800 Mhz band. We will resume auction tomorrow," Telecom Secretary M F Farooqui told PTI.
In November, 2012 auction ended in just 2 days while in March 2013 it ended on same day.
Now, even if bidders opt to pay the final auction price in installments, the government will get at least Rs 11,790 crore, exceeding the target of collecting Rs 11,343 crore in upfront payments.
Excess demand for 2G spectrum in 1800 Mhz band was seen only in two service areas -- Gujarat and UP West-- resulting in an increase in the airwaves price.
Aggressive bidding was seen for the 900 MHz, which is in short supply and is being auctioned in just three cities-- Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkatta -- markets where licences of Bharti and Vodafone are to expire in coming November unless they buy the radiowaves in this round of auction.
The price of 900 Mhz band spectrum in Delhi went up to Rs 530.73 crore per megahertz, up 47.42 per cent from Rs 360 crore fixed by government. The Mumbai price was up by 68.30 per cent to Rs 552.05 from base price of Rs 328 crore per Mhz.
The price of 900 Mhz band in Kolkata, where demand was stabilising at the end of first day of auction, saw increase of 46.83 per cent in base price to Rs 183.54 crore per Mhz from Rs 125 crore a megahertz.
