BJP has been able to build a massive false narration and wrong perception that the UPA government was hugely corrupt. However, this is far from the truth. Let me put up some facts and the readers can themselves arrive at the right conclusion.
Did you know that after doing an auction of so many spectrums 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G Spectrum together on 1st August 2022 Modi government could manage only Rs 1.5 lakh crores? This is the highest ever amount the government could raise from the spectrum auction. However, this is the total bid amount not the annual earnings of the government. Payments for spectrum can be made in 20 equal annual installments, to be paid in advance at the beginning of each year. The bidders would be given the option to surrender the spectrum after 10 years, with no future liabilities with respect to balance installments. The expected total first annual installment that the government will garner from the bidders has been pegged at Rs 13,365 crore. Whereas the government was expecting Rs 4.3 lakh crore at reserve prices from the auction of 72 GHz of airwaves for 20 years across 10 5G bands.
Actually, I feel that a much bigger scam has happened this time in the spectrum auction. First of all, for this sale, the rate was cut by 40% on the reserved price since all the bands had gone unsold in the last two auctions due to what carriers said was its high price. This could be because of a cartel between the 3–4 players. Ideally, all the bids should be rejected if it is below the reserved price. Who justified this 40% cut? Secondly, the Modi government has changed the payment terms. Earlier the entire bid amount had to be paid in one shot. Why this concession and in whose interest? Thirdly and most importantly why the bid period is for 20 years when the bidders have not made outright payment of the bid amount. This is like a price freeze offer for 20 years without any benefit to the nation. Just think Ambani will get the spectrum at the same price in 2042 that they have bid today. What will be the value of the annual payment of Rs 13,365 crore in 2042? They will practically get the spectrum free of cost.
In the alleged 2G Spectrum scam in 2010 CAG Vinod Rai estimated a loss of 1.76 lakh crores. The mobile phone penetration and the population were much-much smaller then. Plus there was no smartphone in 2010. Now you tell me - is it possible by any means to do a scam of 1.76 lakh crore in those days? When the Modi government would be earning only Rs 13,365 crore from the auction of 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G Spectrum together, what kind of money would you have expected the Manmohan Singh government to earn back in 2010 to do a scam of 1.76 lakh crores by selling only 2G spectrum?
The special court appointed by the SC in its verdict categorically rejected that any scam took place. The court ruled that this case was baseless. As per the judgment, "Some people created a scam by artfully arranging a few selected facts and exaggerating things beyond recognition to astronomical levels."
The above table gives the comparative outcome of the various auctions. The viewers are free to make their own assessment of whether they find any scope of doing a scam of 1.76 lakh crores. The data has been collected from the auction value analysis done by the Department of Telecom. I am amazed where that genius Vinod Rai found the scam. People would have some idea of what kind of mobile penetration India had in 2010. In 2010 the smartphone penetration rate in India was only 2.75% and in 2022 it is 66.21%. Mobile phone internet user penetration in India in 2010 was only 0.05% and in 2022 it is 66.16%. See the huge jump in mobile phone penetration, have you seen a compatible increase in revenue in the Modi government tenure commensurate with the growth of smartphone penetration?
Image source - Staatista 2022
Former CAG - Vinod Rai, the man in total black. The white shirt doesn’t suit him.
Here I have presented just one case. If I share the cases of other alleged scams the picture will be the same. So I am not going into the details of other cases of scams detected by the so-called genius Vinod Rai to whom the Modi government has been extraordinarily generous by giving him two Padma awards and many lucrative positions.
My question is that if there was no scam what would have Manmohan Singh stopped?
Edit:
I believe that I have fairly covered the subject in the original answer section and people wouldn’t have much of a question or scope to contradict. However, I am constrained to add this edit section to address a few comments.
- I would like to point out that in two rounds of action in 2010, the total bid amount was around 76 K Crores with about one twenty-fifth of the subscriber base in comparison to that of 2022. And this is without considering the revenue from BSNL & MTNL. So I think we can safely say the revenue collection was not at all low if we consider the subsequent years’ auction amount.
- Secondly, somebody pointed out that even though the subscriber base was small, the mobile bill amount was higher to the tune of Rs.1200–1800 per month. Let’s say that the mobile bill amount is 8-10 times higher than today. But we have 25 times higher subscriber base today. Let me give you the mathematics. Say in 2010, 100 subscribers paid a total bill; in the amount of Rs.180000/-.( Rs.1800 X 100) Now in 2022 with 25 times higher subscriber base 100 X 25 =2500 X Rs.200/- =Rs.500000/-. That means that even though the bill amount has gone down drastically, the revenue collection is more than double, almost two and half times. And this is considering the average mobile bill value at Rs.1800. However I am sure in 2010 average bill value wouldn’t be more than Rs.1000/- Considering that the auction value should be five times higher in 2022, which is not the case.
- Somebody pointed out that the entire 5G spectrum for all the cities was not sold in the current auction. Possible. But then the total bid amount has to be five times of 2010 auction amount considering the above calculation. Secondly this year so many spectrums 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G were put up for sale, not 5G alone.
- Also, I would like to point out that in 2010, the major part earnings of the telecom operators were consumed by infrastructure and network expansion costs. With a small subscriber base, the per-customer infrastructure cost was much higher. With the increase in subscriber base, the infrastructure & network expansion cost doesn’t go up proportionately. For example, in a city, you have 1 lakh subscriber base, if tomorrow it increases to 5 lakh subscribers. the infrastructure cost remains almost the same because the infrastructure is created in one go considering the future scale-up provision.
- Somebody pointed out that the bidding process was not correct or transparent. This is possible. Over the last twenty years, government procedures and processes have gone through massive changes. Even today most of the government works happen through physical file movement. In 2010 the entire process inclusive of tendering was through a manual route on paper. Today you can say it was wrong, but then it was the correct process. I would say that the spectrum auction process followed in 2010 was wrong or was with malafide intention only if the revenue generation has increased substantially after changing the process. But that is not the case. The new auction mechanism has been followed since 2012 as per the Supreme Court-provided guidelines. As regards corruption it was possible in 2010 and it is possible even today. Rather I would say the scope of corruption is much higher today. With a lesser number of players, the scope and chances of a cartel are much higher. I have added two new tables to drive my point against the allegations of scams. Hope the matter is suitably addressed.
Ref:
https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/5g-how-much-money-did-the-govt-collect-in-previous-auction-rounds-122080200810_1.html#:~:text=The%20auction%20for%20the%205G,half%20the%20total%20budding%20amount.5G spectrum auction: Bids worth ₹1.45 lakh crore on Day 1
https://dot.gov.in/sites/default/files/auction_analysis.pdfIndia: smartphone penetration rate 2040 | Statista
India: mobile phone internet user penetration 2040 | Statista
https://icrier.org/pdf/Evaluating_Spectrum_Auctions_in_India.pdfGovt mops up Rs 1,49,855 crore at end of day 4 of 5G spectrum auctions
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