The government is expected to achieve its fiscal revenue target of Rs. 40,000 crores from the spectrum sale, telecom secretary M F Farooqui said on Thursday.
"Hopefully, we will achieve the Rs. 40,000 crores revenue target from auction," Farooqui told reporters in New Delhi after a meeting with economic affairs secretary, Arvind Mayaram.
The third round of spectrum auction will start from January 23. The government had set a total revenue target of Rs. 40,874.5 crores this fiscal from spectrum, including auction amount, one-time spectrum charge and annual regular licence fee.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has already issued the notice inviting application (NIA) for the upcoming auction.
As per the timeline mentioned in NIA, interested companies can submit their applications January 4. The DoT also held a pre-bid conference on December 20.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended an up to 60 percent cut in the auction reserve price for spectrum in the 900MHz band in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles. It had also suggested a 37 percent cut in the reserve price for spectrum in the 1800MHz band.
However, the Telecom Commission, the highest decision making body of Department of Telecom (DoT), had recommended raising the reserve price of pan-India mobile phone spectrum by 15 percent over the one suggested by TRAI, and 25 percent higher in case of key circles like Delhi and Mumbai.
The Empowered Group of Ministers has approved the price recommended by the Telecom Commission.
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