The Hindu Business Line : Raja defends 2G spectrum policy

New Delhi, Nov. 7 The Communications and IT Minister, Mr A. Raja, on Friday said that he will resign if allegations made against his decision to allocate 2G mobile spectrum on a first-come-first-served basis was proven wrong.

Reacting to allegations made by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Mr Raja said that his decision was based on the New Telecom Policy 1999 and the recommendations made by the telecom regulator.

The CPI(M) on Thursday alleged a big scam in spectrum allocation to mobile operators and questioned the Government decision to turn a blind eye to the loss of an estimated Rs. 60,000 crore to the national exchequer by giving away scarce spectrum at a fraction of the market price.

In response, the Minister said, “Regarding sale of shares by Swan Telecom and Unitech, it is clarified that the foreign companies have entered into agreement to subscribe to the new equity shares of the companies. No share of the founding promoters of the companies has been sold. Hence, the question of windfall gain or for that matter any gain for the promoters does not arise.”

Revenue loss

On the allegation of causing revenue loss to the Government by not allocating spectrum through auction, Mr Raja said that this is a myth since the Government was being compensated by deferred revenue every year.

“Since the introduction of revenue share regime in 1999, the Government has received more than Rs 50,000 crore on account of only licence fee. In addition, the Government has received approximately Rs 9,000 crore on account of spectrum charges and Rs 19,500 crore on account of entry fee. In 2007-08 alone, the Government received Rs 12,000 crore from licence fee and spectrum charges,” he said.

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