Protecting the government from the poor performance of 2G Spectrum allocation in which the bidding price went much below as against the government's expectation, Union Telecom Minister Friday informed that government can go for another round of 2G Spectrum allocation auction in the next year.
The bidding for getting the licences for remaining period of 2G spectrum, government on Tuesday arranged the auction process which concluded in the next day and the government could collect only Rs. 9407-crore as against Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG's) estimation of Rs.34,000-crore.
This poor performance has once again peeled the image of the government and it is facing criticism from the opposition.
Defending the government from this poor performance, Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said, "The intent is to try and have another auction before March 31. We will discuss how to move forward and take a call on it."
"Of course, there will be an auction. There is no doubt about that. What procedure we follow for that auction is something we will decide in another few weeks," he added.
Referring to the lukewarm response to the Supreme Court mandated auction of 2G spectrum, Sibal, "The government did exactly what the courts wanted it to do-that is sell the airwaves, or radio frequency spectrum, that was vacated after 122 licences and accompanying spectrum issued in 2008 were cancelled by virtue of a apex court order.
"We are not here to score points. Our point always was that market dynamics should be allowed to play out. The moment you start dealing with market directly or indirectly it will be bad. The government's wisdom should only intervene when required," he added.
Stressing that "policy is best left to government", Sibal said that February's Supreme Court order, which cancelled 122 licenses sold in 2008 and asked for spectrum to be auctioned meant that the "government was limited in its policy prescriptions, had to move forward in a certain way. Which is why you saw what happened a few days ago."
As against Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG), estimation of over Rs 34,000-crore, the telecom department got bids of just Rs 9,407-crore. The government had fixed the reserve price for the spectrum at Rs 14,000 crore.
The auction was a far cry from the 35-day bidding for the 3G spectrum in 2010 that got Rs. 67,719 crore.
--With ANI Inputs--
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