Spectrum Auction: Govt received bids worth Rs 56,792 crore on day 2

The government received bids worth Rs 56,792 crore on the second day of auction, Aseem Manchanda reported.

The biggest ever spectrum auction in India had kicked off on Saturday, 1 October 2016. On the first day of auction, the government had got bids worth Rs 55,000 crore. 

Till evening, even on second day today, 700 Mhz and 900 Mhz bands remained without bidders. 

According to a PTI report, telecom circles including Mumbai, Rajasthan and Gujarat witnessed highest bidding on the second day of auction. 

Even today, a lot of activity was seen in 2100 MHz, 2300Mhz and 2500 Mhz bands and most of the action is seen in 1800 Mhz band, the report said.

Seven telecom companies have applied for this spectrum auction, and together have brought in bids of around Rs 14,563 crore.

The government which will be auctioning the largest ever spectrum 2,354 MHz across seven bands -  700 Mhz, 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz and 2300 Mhz.  The radiowaves can be used for 2G, 3G and high-speed 4G mobile services.

Out of this, the 700 MHz spectrum band would be the first time be offered in the auction. For this band a firm will need to shell out a minimum of Rs 57,425 crore. 

This spectrum auction is expected to fetch bids worth Rs 5.63 lakh crore. 

Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Reliance Communications and Aircel are in the fray for the spectrum auction.