Intense bidding for the 3G spectrum continued on Tuesday as the provisional winning price at the end of the fourth day and after completion of 23 rounds stood at Rs. 4,582.52 crore against Monday's Rs. 4,324.19 crore.
Interestingly, for the first time since the e-auction process started, Gujarat circle went ahead of Delhi circle in the provisional winning bid price at Rs. 459.52 crore against Rs. 437.65 crore for the latter. Telecom players have been showing keen interest in at least seven telecom circles (out of 22) — Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
So far, the provisional winning price has been increasing gradually since the e-auction started. While it was Rs. 3,913 crore on the opening day (April 9), it rose to Rs. 4,085 crore on April 10, to Rs. 4,324 crore on April 12 and to Rs. 4,582 on April 13 against the Department of Telecommunications reserve price of Rs. 3,500 crore for pan-India licence.
The government is hoping to garner Rs. 40,000-45,000 crore from the auction of spectrum for 3G as well as for wireless broadband.
