Govt to get Rs 1.06 lac cr from spectrum sale;FD down to 4.47%

New Delhi, June 11 (PTI) The Indian government's revenue
mop up from 3G and BWA spectrum auction beat all predictions
at Rs 106,336 crore, over thrice the original estimates, that
would also help reduce the fiscal deficit to 4.47 per cent in
FY'11.

Of this, the government has already received Rs 67,719
crore from the successful bidders for 3G spectrum, while the
Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum auction that ended
on Friday would contribute Rs 38,617 crore.
The successful bidders would have to make payment within
10 days of the final approval of the auction by the
government.
India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had earlier
projected Rs 35,000 receipts from the sale of spectrum and
accordingly had kept the fiscal deficit at 5.5 per cent of GDP
for the year 2010-11.
But, with a windfall of over Rs 71,300 crore, the fiscal
deficit is expected to come down to 4.47 per cent and this may
also lower the borrowings of the government in the second half
of the current financial year.
Internet Service Provider Infotel emerged as the only
pan-India winner for BWA spectrum by committing Rs 12,872.52
crore. Mukesh Ambani-led RIL announced Infotel's acquisition,
within hours of close of auction, for Rs 4,800 crore.
In BWA, the government auctioned two slots of 20 MHz
each. Besides Infotel, US-based Qualcom bagged four circles of
Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana.
Qualcom would have to pay Rs 4,912.54 crore. Bharti also
bagged four circles--Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kolkata and
Punjab--for Rs 3,314.36 crore.
Aircel bagged eight circles, mostly in category B and C
areas for Rs 3,438.01 crore. Tikona Telecom, promoted by two
former RCom executives, won the five circles of Gujarat, Uttar
Pradesh East and West, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
Four leading telecom players -- RCom, Tatas, Vodafone and
Idea Cellular -- drew a blank, finding the bid way too high to
make a viable business proposition.On the lines of 3G, Mumbai
and Delhi received the highest bid amounts of Rs 2,292.95
crore and Rs 2,241.02 crore, respectively.
State-owned BSNL and MTNL, which have been given BWA
spectrum ahead of the private players, will have to pay the
equivalent of the winning bid in each service area.
As many as 11 companies, including Bharti Airtel,
Reliance, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Vodafone and Tata
Communications Internet Services, participated in the auction
for Broadband Wireless Access spectrum.
BWA spectrum enables high-speed Internet access as well
as Internet telephony and TV services. It can also be used for
voice and high-speed data services. PTI SR