3G auction winners may pay in rupees

NEW DELHI, INDIA: India has amended overseas borrowing rules allowing the winners in the upcoming 3G wireless spectrum auction to pay the fee in rupees, which could be later refinanced by overseas borrowing within 12 months, the Finance Ministry said.

“It has now been decided that the fee for spectrum allocation may be met out of rupee resources by successful bidders, to be refinanced with a long-term overseas commercial borrowing," the ministry said in a statement

As per the new guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunication, the successful bidders would be required to pay 25 per cent of the bid amount within five days of the close of the auction and the balance amount within 15 days of the auction closure.

“Given the short window available between the date of application for the auction and the date of payment, the bidders find it difficult to raise ECB to meet the payment obligation for bidding,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, a CNBC-TV18 report quoting NewsWire18 said the auction of third-generation wireless spectrum will be held on schedule and the telecom ministry will issue a draft of the notice inviting bids or applications (NIA) for 3G later today.