Cabinet clears spectrum base price that can fetch Rs 48,000 cr

 

 

the Cabinet today fixed the minimum price for selling telecom spectrum at up to half the rate set at the previous auction to net at least Rs 48,000 crore in revenue from the sale planned in January.
"The Union Cabinet today approved the finalisation of the reserve price for auction of spectrum in 1800 MHz band for all service areas and for 900 MHz band in Metro service areas of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata," an official statement said.
The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, fixed the start price for the sale of spectrum in the 1800 mega-Hertz band at a pan-India rate of Rs 1,765 crore per MHz, about 26 per cent lower than the base price in the March sale.
"The reserve price for 1800 MHz band of Rs 1,765 crore per MHz Pan India, which works out to be Rs 8,825 crore for 5 MHz Pan India," the statement said.
The Cabinet has approved recommendations made by the Empowered Group of Ministers on telecom, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
The high level ministerial panel had recommended that any new entrant will be required to bid for minimum of 5 Mhz in 1800 Mhz or in 900 Mhz band.
Sources at the Telecom Ministry said that they will make efforts to start the auction by January 21 and the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) may be issued in the next couple of days.
Telecom operators, whose licences are not expiring in 2014, have been allowed to bid for minimum of 600 kilohertz of spectrum in 1800 Mhz band and 1 Mhz in 900 Mhz band as per the EGoM recommendations.
The maximum quantum of spectrum that a company will be able to bid will be mentioned in NIA which will be capped at 25 per cent of total spectrum allotted in a service area.
For the 900 MHz band, it approved a rate up to 53 per cent lower than the previous auction price.
The reserve price for 900 MHz band is Rs 360 crore per MHz for Delhi, Rs 328 crore for Mumbai and Rs 125 crore for Kolkata, the statement.


anand maurya
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