3G auction: Raja cries on Pranab's shoulder again

After announcing that 3G spectrum would be auctioned on 14 January next year, communications minister A Raja has once again sought finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's help to resolve persisting differences with the defence ministry.

"I would like to point out that the differences between the Department of Telecom and the ministry of defence on the 3G spectrum available for auction still persist, and hence we have not mentioned actual frequencies of the spectrum to be auctioned in the revised information memorandum," he informed Mukherjee in a letter, the second in the last 10 days, according to Business Standard.

Last week, too, Raja had sought Mukherjee's intervention over the reluctance of the defence forces to part with the spectrum that they had earlier committed.

The DoT issued the information memorandum last week, saying the auction would start on 14 January and for this to happen, the blocks of spectrum to be auctioned must be identified latest by the first week of December.

According to Raja's letter, the government would get the revenue, pegged at Rs25,000 crore or more, during February next year, provided the auction is held as per schedule.

"I understand that a fast track mechanism is being put in place to sort out the differences between DoT and MoD so that 3G auction can take place in this financial year," the minister said in the letter.

The DoT is in the eye of a storm over alleged irregularities in 2G spectrum allocation.