India's
auditor stands by its 2G report 'hundred percent'
Monday January 10, 2011 07:20:01 PM,
IANS
|
New Delhi: Countering
Communications Minister Kapil Sibal's criticism of its 2G report
as "utterly erroneous", India's official auditor Monday said that
it stood by the report which pegged the notional loss to the
national exchequer at Rs.1.76 lakh crore ($40 billion) in the
allocation of airwaves for second-generation (2G) phone services
in 2008.
Short of rejecting the report by the Comptroller and Auditor
General of India (CAG), Sibal had said last week that the
methodology adopted by the auditing agency was "utterly
erroneous".
The report of the CAG was critical of the government's policy on
spectrum allocation for second generation (2G) telecom services
and said that it caused a loss of between $12.8 billion and $40
billion to the exchequer.
"CAG stands by its audit report on 2G spectrum hundred percent," a
spokesperson for the auditor told reporters here.
The minister had brushed aside the CAG estimates and said there
was no loss to the exchequer as claimed by the auditor's report.
The CAG is a constitutional authority answerable to parliament.
"The loss is zero, nil," Sibal had said, adding that the policy
adopted while awarding spectrum had resulted in the average
telecom tariff in India coming down from almost Rs.17 per minute
(45 cents) to about Rs.3 (6 cents) per minute in 2004 and 30 paise
(less than a cent) per minute now.
"This is the direct and tangible benefit. The benefit of this
reduction in tariffs is estimated at over Rs.150,000 crore ($33
billion) per annum to the consumers," Sibal had said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Monday issued notice to the
Department of Telecom and 11 firms on a plea seeking cancellation
of airwaves and licenses issued for 2G spectrum during former
communications minister A. Raja's tenure.
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top
Stories |

Release
Muslim youths held for Malegaon blast, say scholars
Muslim intellectuals Monday asked the
Maharashtra government to free young Muslim men held in connection
with the 2006 Malegaon bomb
»
Demand
for withdrawal of cases against Muslim youths gathers momentum
Maha Minority Commission recommends
withdrawal of cases against Muslim youth
'Withdraw cases against Muslim youth detained in Malegaon blast'
Aseemanand confesses his involvement in 2006 Malegaon blast:
Report
A prelude to Malegaon bomb blasts
An Inside Narrative of Nanded Blast
Malegaon Blasts: Partisan approach
and
biased
police
Malegaon 2006 blast witness turns hostile
Was Malegaon
Blast really a handiwork of Muslims?
|
|
Picture of the Day |
 |
Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh addressing the Infosys awards
2010 presentation ceremony, in Mumbai on January 06, 2011.
(Photo: B M
Meena) |
|
|
Most
Read |
Kashmir
interlocutors submit report to Chidambaram
The three interlocutors on Jammu and
Kashmir have submitted a report to union Home Minister P.
Chidambaram, stressing on the right to protest and outlining a
basic framework to bring
»
Hope in
Kashmir as interlocutors begin mission |
Plane crashes
in Iran, Over 70 feared dead
Seventy-two
people, including 12 crew members, were killed when a plane with
105 people on board crashed in northwest Iran.
The remaining 33 people were seriously injured in the accident
that occurred Sunday evening in Iran's West Azerbaijan province,
Xinhua said, citing reports
» |
|
News Pick |
India's
diaspora conclave concludes with honours, outreach
India's
annual convention to connect with its 27-million strong diaspora
in over 150 countries concluded Sunday with President Pratibha
» |
India
forced to play Rafi in Asian Cup opener
Forward Sushil Singh is ruled out of
the first two matches of the AFC Asian Cup football tournament,
having been suspended on disciplinary
» |
Overseas Indian doctors ready to help India
Around
300,000 doctors of Indian origin are working abroad and they are
willing to help the Indian government in a variety of ways, a
leading Britain-based doctor said. "Indian doctors abroad are keen
to work in a variety of
» |
Conquer
Raigad Fort - in five minutes!
It was a symbol of Maratha pride, the capital of Chhatrapati
Shivaji's kingdom and vision of a Hindavi Swaraj (Hindu rule). The
majestic Raigad Fort, which resisted British attacks for over a
century, is now conquered by a million
» |
Women
demand codification of Muslim Personal Law
Activists of
the Muslim Mahila Andolan from different parts of Uttar Pradesh
converged here Sunday to demand codification of the
» |
|
|
|