New Delhi, 26 June

Telecom czar Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel on Wednesday emerged as the biggest bidder for radio waves used to transmit mobile phone voice and data signals, cornering about 60 per cent of the Rs 11,341 crore worth of spectrum sold in an auction that ended within two days.

While Bharti Airtel bid and won airwaves worth Rs 6,856.76 crore, rival Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio - the market leader - got Rs 973.62 crore worth of spectrum - the least in the three-corner contest.

Vodafone Idea, the struggling telecom operator that recently got a fresh lease of life through India's biggest follow on share sale, bagged spectrum valued Rs 3,510.4 crore.

An official statement said, in all 141.4 MHz of radio waves were sold for Rs 11,340.78 crore.

The government had offered a total of 10 GHz of spectrum ranging between 800 MHz to 26 GHz, which was worth Rs 96,238 crore at the base or auction start price. However, only a small amount of the spectrum on offer got sold in seven rounds of auction.

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have successfully renewed their expired spectrum in 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands, and further an additional quantum of 87.2 MHz worth Rs 6,164.88 cr has been acquired by telcos to augment their services.

"Spectrum auction 2024 was part of a continuous allocation process that is transparent, robust and progressive. Telecom service providers (TSPs) have taken spectrum not only for continuity of service but for expanding their services but the volume is limited because already a large part of the spectrum required was auctioned only last year," Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters here.

He added: "We will continue the process with the clear objective of ensuring reliability and growth of telecom services in India."

The bidding went above the reserve price in West Bengal and Bihar in 1,800 MHz band.