New Delhi, June 16: Telecom Minister A Raja on Tuesday said he expects revenue of at least Rs 25,000 crore from the auction of radio waves for third generation (3G) mobile, broadband and wireless services.
Raja, who met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, said his
department had assured the government of an early service
rollout.
"In connection with the 3G and WiMAX auctions, we assured
(the Finance Minister) of an early rollout, an early auction
and more revenue for the government," Raja told reporters
after meeting Mukherjee earlier today.
Raja`s estimate is lower than what (Rs 30,000 crore) the
government had forecast last year when the 3G auction process
was announced.
Raja meets Mukherjee again in the evening seeking clarity
on the number of licences to be auctioned and the reserve
price to be set. DoT officials will also be there to discuss
the issue with their counterparts in the Finance Ministry.
DoT plans to auction frequency for 20 of India`s 22
telecom service areas. The exercise has been delayed after the
Finance Ministry suggested that the starting auction price of
Rs 2,020 crore be doubled.
Bureau Report
