Govt receives bids worth Rs 77,000 crore on first day of spectrum auction

The government on Monday received bids of Rs 77,146 crore on the first day of spectrum auction for fourth-generation (4G) mobile network.

While four rounds of bidding took place on Monday, the auction is expected to conclude on Tuesday with another one or two rounds of bidding taking place, the government said in a release.

"The value of the spectrum for which there are provisional winning bids is Rs 77,146 crore. This has already substantially exceeded pre-bid estimates of Rs 45,000 crore," it said.

The government is auctioning 2,308.80 Megahertz (MHz) of telecom waves in seven frequency bands -- 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz, worth nearly Rs 4 lakh crore at reserve price.

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The spectrum will be offered for 20 years.  Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone Idea Ltd and Reliance Jio Infocomm are participating in the auction.

Bids were received for 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz bands, but the premium 700 MHz and 2,500 MHz bands did not receive any bids. There was substantial interest in 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 2,300 MHz bands.

"...there have been bids for 849.20 MHz so far. Excluding spectrum in 700 MHz and 2,500 MHz bands, this is almost 60 per cent of the spectrum put to auction. In the 2016 spectrum auction, where there were 7 bidders, the spectrum sold was 41 per cent by quantity and 12 per cent by value of the total spectrum put to auction," the release said, adding that the corresponding figures in 2021 spectrum auction so far are 37 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

"Bidder-wise details of quantity won and amounts payable will be available only after conclusion of the auction," the government said.

The bidders are required to pay 25 per cent of final bid amount as upfront payment in 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands, while they will have to pay 50 per cent of final bid amount upfront for other bands.

The balance amount will be payable in 16 equated annual instalments after a moratorium of 2 years.

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