Auction station: Govt makes Rs 3 lakh cr from coal, spectrum and still counting

After biggest scams the auction process has raised money that exceeds all estimates

GN Bureau | March 10, 2015


#auction   #coal   #spectrum   #power   #piyush goyal  


With Rs 2 lakh crore generated already from just 32 mines out of 204 and nearly Rs 1 lakh crore from spectrum auction, the government has so far earned Rs 3 lakh crore.

On Monday alone, two mines -- Utkal C in Odisha and Lohari in Jharkhand fetched over Rs 11,000 crore.

The auction kitty from sale of coal mines and telecom spectrum has swelled to over Rs three lakh crore — exceeding all estimates including by CAG for value of such resources, which have been at the centre of two major scams in the recent years.

The  auction of just 32 of them have yielded Rs 2.07 lakh crore already and in spectrum, total bids reached Rs 94,000 crore at the end of the fifth day of auction on Monday. The auctions will continue.

Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said that the e-auction of 32 coal blocks, out of 204 cancelled coal blocks, “has already yielded potential e-auction revenues, royalties and upfront payments of Rs 2.07 lakh crores, which is far in excess of CAG loss estimate of Rs 1.86 lakh crore.”

Goyal said that the auctions would result in lower cost of power, while coal-bearing states like Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra will “earn lakhs of crores of additional revenue”.

The power fuel cost would come down by Rs 96,971 crores, resulting in power tariff savings for consumers, he added.

In five days of the second leg of auction so far, mines have been mostly sold in eastern states to firms like Adani, Hindalco, JSW and Jindal.

With regard to the spectrum auction, the Department of Telecom said that the bidding has taken place in all bands and “a value of approximately Rs 94,000 crore has been committed by bidders in respect of provisionally won spectrum”.

Giant companies like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone are locked in battle of spectrum with Reliance Jio. India is the world’s second-biggest smart phone market.  The auction is the biggest ever sale of 2G and 3G airwaves where government is selling spectrum in four bands: 2,100 megahertz (Mhz), 1,800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 MHz.

Most of the spectrum put up for auction is at present held by Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Telecom. Their licences are expiring in 2015-16.

The 3G and BWA auction together fetched the government over Rs 1.05 lakh crore in 2010. The government had raked in Rs 62,162 crore from the last spectrum auction held in February 2014.

The Coal Minister has said that the auction will help in lowering power costs for consumers as power fuel cost would come down by Rs 96,971 crore.

Comments

 

Other News

AI studies sun images to track bright solar regions

Artificial Intelligence has been used to trace the shift in magnetically active patches on the Sun from 1916 to 2007 by scanning 100 years of hand-drawn Sun records from the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KoSO). This could give a much longer view of how solar activity changes over time.  

General Dhiraj Seth takes over as Chief of Army Staff

General Dhiraj Seth, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, took over as the 31st Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) from General Upendra Dwivedi, PVSM, AVSM, who superannuated after more than four decades of distinguished service to the nation on Tuesday.   General Dhiraj Seth is an alumnus of the N

The women India doesn`t count enough

She runs a tailoring shop from a single room in her house. Every morning she stitches school uniforms, answers queries on WhatsApp, collects payments through UPI and orders fabric online. Officially, she still belongs to India`s informal economy. Yet her enterprise is no longer disconnected from the formal

“Cancer is just a mind game”

Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant, a Padma Shri awardee, inspired audiences for decades through her mastery of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. But it was her journey through cancer that taught some of life`s most powerful lessons in courage and resilience.

Why Swami Vivekananda is the pathfinder for our times

Swami Vivekananda for Our Times  Edited and compiled by Rajiv Sikri, with Introduction by S. Gurumurthy Rupa Publications, 552 pages, Rs 695  

Five ways to realise the potential of India’s handicraft and handloom sector

India`s economic ambitions are increasingly defined by the industries of the future. Semiconductors, electronics, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing dominate policy conversations. Yet one of India`s largest employment-intensive sectors continues to occupy a surprisingly marginal place in ec





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter