Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw dismissed former Telecom Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP A Raja’s suggestion that the recent auction of the 5G spectrum caused losses to the exchequer.
“But now the 5G has been auctioned for only Rs 1.5 lakh crore. There is a huge scam in this. Where has the money gone? Where has the mistake taken place? This current government should investigate this,” said Raja.
A Raja was once considered as the face of the 2G scam after the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office claimed that the 2G allocation process in 2007-08 caused a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
Denying the allegations, Vaishnaw said, “I am shocked to see this coming from a former Minister. Many bands were not sold, what was not sold remains with the government. How does that become a scam?”
The telecom minister said that the sold spectrum was valued at Rs 1,50,173 crore and the unsold spectrum was valued at 2,81,432 crore, of the total put on auction. Spectrum bands of 600 MHz and 2300 MHz remained unsold entirely due to the weak ecosystem of mobile telephony in these segments. “If goods worth Rs 100 are put on sale, and only goods worth Rs 70 are sold, what is unsold remains with the owner. Same is the case with the unsold spectrum,” he added.
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