Govt remains in a fix over 3G auction

With only a month and a half to go before the current fiscal year ends, the fate of the already delayed 3G auction is still hanging in balance. The Government is still not certain whether it can hold the 3G auction before the end of March. At the same time it is not perturbed in case it fails to meet the deadline. The Finance Ministry reportedly cleared the decks for 3G auction by the end of March, by assuring the Law Ministry that it would give spectrum to all the successful bidders by September 1 instead of selectively releasing the airwaves. But, the Government is not sure if it can conduct a 3G wireless auction before the end of the current fiscal year, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said. "The issues relating to 3G auction have been resolved, but I can't say whether the actual auction will happen before March 31," Chawla said. At the same time, Cabinet Secretary K M. Chandrasekhar said that it does not matter if the 3G auction happens in this fiscal year (FY10) or the next (FY11). He added that Centre would like to garner maximise possible revenue from the 3G auction and would set a date accordingly. "I think all the issues have been resolved," Chandrasekhar told reporters in New Delhi. "I don't think it really particularly matters if this year or next year."

The 3G auctions for all-India licences were initially scheduled to begin on February 13 but were postponed to a time-frame between mid-February and March 5. It is not clear whether the DoT will follow this schedule or announce a new set of dates within the financial year. 3G auction has been deferred time and again on differences between the Telecom Ministry and the Defence Ministry over vacation of spectrum by the armed forces. Lack of revenues from 3G auction will hurt the fiscal position with budget deficit at a 16-year high. The Government has projected a fiscal deficit of 6.8% of the GDP for the current fiscal year.