Pan-India 3G bid price up 63%

The seventh day of 3G spectrum auction saw a huge jump of 63 per cent in the bid price ofall-India licence at Rs 5,710.36 crore (Rs 57.10 billion) over the base price,taking the total minimum revenue to Rs 22,841.44 crore (Rs 228.41 billion).

Delhi, after losing its top position to Gujarat earlier, emerged as the most valuable circle at a bid value of Rs 626.37 crore (Rs 6.26 billion) followed by the Mumbai circle at Rs 598.59 crore (Rs 5.98 billion) at the end of 40 rounds, out of which six rounds were held on Sunday.

The government targets Rs 30,000-35,000 crore (Rs 300-350 billion) from the sale of radio waves for 3G telephony and broadband wirelessaccess services.

The base price has been kept at Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion).

Tamil Nadu logged in the third highest bid price of Rs 549.24 crore (Rs 5.49 billion), followed by Gujarat that experienced negativedemand at Rs 533.40 crore (Rs 5.33 billion).

According to details available with the department of telecommunication, Maharashtra got a bid of Rs 533.37 crore (Rs 5.33 billion), while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh of Rs 507.97 crore (Rs 5.07 billion) and Rs 493.50 crore (Rs 4.93 billion), respectively.

The bid for UP (East) was at Rs 228.59 crore (Rs 2.28 billion), Uttar Pradesh (West) at Rs 225.74 crore (Rs 2.25 billion), Rajasthan at Rs 220.70 crore (Rs 2.2 billion), Madhya Pradesh at Rs 218.23 crore (Rs 2.18 billion), Kerala at Rs 190.52 crore (Rs 1.9 billion) and Haryana at Rs 170.69 crore (Rs 1.7 billion).

Kolkata and Punjab circles saw bid prices of Rs 174.25 crore (Rs 1.74 billion) and Rs 132.51 crore (Rs 1.32 billion), respectively.

West Bengal saw a bid price of Rs 123.63 crore (Rs 1.23 billion), with oneof the circles witnessing negative demand.

Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir too continued to see negative demand at Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) bid levels, except Bihar and North East where it was Rs 32.44 crore (Rs 324.4 million) and Rs 30.30 crore (Rs 303 million), respectively.

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