2G SPECTRUM SCAM
1. 2G Scam.
(a) 2G licenses issued to private telecom
players at throwaway prices in 2008.
(b) CAG: Spectrum scam has cost the
government Rs. 1.76 lakh crore.
(c) CAG: Rules and procedures flouted while
issuing licenses.
2. Charges on Former Telecom Minister, A
Raja.
(a) Cheap Telecom Licenses.
(i) Entry fee for spectrum licenses in
2008 pegged at 2001 prices.
(ii) Mobile subscriber base had shot up to
350 million in 2008 from 4 million in 2001.
(b) No
Procedures Followed.
(i) Rules changed after the game had begun.
(ii) Cut-off date for applications advanced
by a week.
(iii) Licenses issued on a
first-come-first-served basis.
(iv) No proper auction process followed, no
bids invited.
(v) Raja ignored advice of TRAI, Law
Ministry, Finance Ministry.
(vi) TRAI had recommended auctioning of
spectrum at market rates.
(c) Favouritism,
Corporates Encash Premium.
(i) Unitech, Swan Telecom got licenses
without any prior telecom experience
(ii) Swan Telecom given license even though
it did not meet eligibility criteria
(iii) Swan got license for Rs. 1537 crore, sold
45% stake to Etisalat for Rs. 4200 crore
(iv) Unitech Wireless got license for Rs. 1661
crore, sold 60% stake for Rs. 6200 crore
(v) All nine companies paid DoT only Rs.
10,772 crore for 2G licences
3. Controversy.
(a) The opposition said that by giving the
airwaves cheap, that too in the controversial manner of first-cum-first-served
basis, the exchequer had lost billions of dollars. The cut-off date for
applications was also arbitrarily advanced.
(b) Later, based on the auction of airwaves
for third generation (3G) services, which got nearly $15 billion to the
exchequer, and that for broadband access, which fetched over $8.5 billion, the
notional loss was estimated at $38 billion to the exchequer.
(c) But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
himself defended Raja's decision and said on May 24 that all that his
communications minister had done was to implement a policy already in place and
none of the norms were flouted.
(d) Supreme Court asked the solicitor general
why the prime minister had not responded to the representation by the
opposition to sanction proceedings against Raja.
(e) The final blow came after the Comptroller
and Auditor General of India said the entire process of spectrum allocation was
undertaken in an arbitrary manner and that the advise of the industry watchdog
was ignored and misused.
4. Media Pers Inolved.
(a) Nira Radia, a former airline entrepeneur
turned corporate lobbyist whose conversations with politicians and corporate
entities were recorded by the government authorities and leaked creating the
Nira Radia tapes controversy
(b) Barkha Dutt, an NDTV journalist alleged
to have lobbied for A. Raja's appointment as minister
(c) Vir Sanghvi, a Hindustan Times editor
alleged to have edited articles to reduce blame in the Nira Radia tapes.
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