The government has so far received bids worth Rs 1,49,967 crores after 30 rounds of bidding in the ongoing 5G spectrum auctions. Seven rounds were conducted on Saturday, which was day 5 of auctions, in which bids worth Rs 112 crore were by the Department of Telecom (DoT). The auction will continue on Monday, 1st August. Seven rounds of bidding have already been conducted.

Friday saw intense bids for the 1800 Mhz band in Uttar Pradesh (East) with the per unit price of the band increasing by 49% to Rs 135.60 crore.

According to Economic Times, analysts estimate that Reliance Jio’s spectrum expenditure has reached Rs 84,000 crore so far while Bharti Airtel’s stood at Rs 46,000 crore and Vi’s to be around Rs 18,500 crore.

After a roaring start on Tuesday that saw bids worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore on day one itself. A total of 72 Ghz of spectrum worth at least Rs 4.3 lakh crore is on the block. The auction currently underway is for spectrum in low frequency 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, mid-frequency 3300 MHz and high frequency 26 GHz bands.

Four main bidders participating in the auctions are Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and a unit of billionaire Gautam Adani’s flagship company Adani enterprises. India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio Infocomm has emerged as the most aggressive bidder as evident from the earnest money deposit (EMD) figure.

Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a statement said, “We reduced the price of the spectrum significantly. Many charges were removed, many relaxations were given”

He added 5G rollouts can be expect by October 2022 and India will have significant 5G coverage within 2 years.