The 3G spectrum auctions, which kicked off on Friday, got a resounding start with the nine-odd bidders already committing Rs 12,000-crore, almost a third of the Rs 35,000-crore the government was expecting from selling airwaves. With such high bidding on day one itself, the auction spells great news for UPA-II’s efforts to pare its deficit for 2010-11 to 5.5% of the GDP.
According to a department of telecommunications? (DoT) statement, there were five rounds of bids on Friday, ending at 7.30 pm. The auctions would continue for at least 20 days.
Delhi, which has three slots up for grabs saw the highest bid amount at Rs 373.29 crore, against a reserve price of Rs 320 crore. At the end of day one, the slot saw equilibrium with only three players in the race and others pulling out. As reported by FE earlier, under the clock auction process, which is at play, the process would continue till equilibrium is reached across all 22 circles.
The Mumbai circle saw the bid price at Rs 362.66 crore with four operators still in the fray for the three available slots. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu ranked along with Mumbai at similar bid amounts, clearly establishing that the initial race is for the metros and category-A circles. Among the metros, Kolkata drew the least bid of Rs 135.99 crore.
