Following the Supreme Court?s cancellation of 122 licences for 2G spectrum a few days back, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday held consultations with senior Cabinet colleagues on its impact on the overall telecom sector and the way forward.
The meeting was attended by FM Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram, telecom minister Kapil Sibal and law minister Salman Khurshid. Attorney General GE Vahanvati and telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar were also present.
?This meeting was to inform senior ministers as to what are the implications and ramifications of the judgment. This group was not meant to take any decision,? Sibal told reporters later.
Chandrashekhar apprised the meeting about the finer points of the judgment and its impact on the telecom sector, amidst fears that the FDI flow could be affected.
The telecom secretary gave a ?full presentation on what the judgment is about, what it means and when we move forward?, Sibal said.
?Ultimately all the matters have to go to Cabinet, so the government has to be informed before that in order to take a decision,? he added.
The meeting is also understood to have deliberated upon the auction which is to be carried out for nearly 546 mhz of 2G spectrum vacated by nine telecom operators whose 122 licences across the country were cancelled. In this context, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has floated a pre-consultation paper seeking comments from stakeholders on guidelines for spectrum auction, as directed by the Supreme Court.
Some foreign operators like Telenor and Sistema, whose licences have been cancelled, are pressuring the government, asking it to safeguard their investments.
Sources say the telecom ministry is likely to send within a week, letters to new operators for termination of their licences.
