Introduction

Definition:
2G (Second Generation Telecommunication Standard) is means the wireless mobiles
which was introduced in second generation. Spectrum means bandwidth which was
sgiven by government of India. Now 2G is in operation and 4G is expected.

WHAT IS 2G
2G means second-generation wireless telephone technology.
Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the
GSM standard in Finland in 1991.
2G introduced data services for mobile, starting with SMS text messages

WHAT IS 2G SCAM
2G licenses issued to private telecom players at throwaway prices in 2008
Spectrum scam has cost loss to the government Rs. 1.76 Lakh crore
Rules and procedures flouted while issuing licenses

WHO CAUSED IT?

The then telecom minister Andimuthu Raja caused the 2G scam
A Raja caused the loss of $40 billion to the Government by selling the Licenses of
network to the private players without following any rules and regulations.

1 | S AT N A M S I N G H

2G Scam: It means issuing of 2G licenses to private telecom companies at low prices. The
companies paid fewer amounts to the government which hits the profit and revenue of the
government. It was done by bribing the Department of Telecom (DoT).
2g is a network service which was supposed to be launched in india for which the network
providers such as vodafone,loop/bpl,reliance,airtel,docomo etc. had to be approved by the
govt. of india to hold the licence for the bandwidth which is used for the 2g service and for this
license the politicians of india have said to be taken some bribe just to give the licence for
eg:the 3g facility allows us to stream videos from the internet from the cellphone for live
streaming the internet usage amount is high hence they require a particular licence from the
government to allow them to use similarly the 2g required a licence for which a bribe had been
demanded by the politicians which has now! been exposed hope this helps you
2G-second generation,A.Raja minister of communication and IT ,cheated ind gov..2g
spectrum scam involved officials nd minister nindia illegally under charging mob
telephons companies for frequency allocation licences,wich they would use 2 create 2G
subscriptions for cell phons .according 2 a report submitted by the comptroller and
auditor based on money collected from 3G* licences.this made loss of rs.176.379
crores($40 billion)...and more info came out when tapping the phone calls of lobbyist
niiraradia.
2G (or 2-G) is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second
generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM
standard in Finland by Radiolinja[1] (now part of Elisa Oyj) in 1991.
Three primary benefits of 2G networks over their predecessors were that phone
conversations were digitally encrypted; 2G systems were significantly more efficient on
the spectrum allowing for far greater mobile phone penetration levels; and 2G
introduced data services for mobile, starting with SMS text messages
. After 2G was launched, the previous mobile telephone systems were retrospectively
dubbed 1G. While radio signals on 1G networks are analog, radio signals on 2G
2 | S AT N A M S I N G H

networks are digital. Both systems use digital signaling to connect the radio towers
(which listen to the handsets) to the rest of the telephone system. 2G has been
superseded by newer technologies such as 2.5G, 2.75G, 3G, and 4G; however, 2G
networks are still used in many parts of the world.
Some of the many conversations recorded over 300 days were leaked to the media.
The intense controversy around the leaked tapes, became known in the media as the
Radia tapes controversy. The tapes featured some explosive conversations between
Politicians, Journalists and Corporate Houses. Politicians from Karunanidhi to
ArunJaitley, journalists like BarkhaDutt and VirSanghvi and Industrial groups like the
Tata's were either participants or mentioned in these explosive tapes. In 2008, the
Income Tax department, after orders from the ministry of Home and the PMO, began
tapping the phones of NiiraRadia. This was done to help with an ongoing investigation
into a case where it was alleged that NiiraRadia had acted as a spy.[3] The 2G
spectrum scam involved officials and ministers in the Government of India illegally
undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which
they would use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. According to a report
submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General based on money collected from 3G
licenses, the loss to the exchequer was 176,379 crore (US$38.27 billion). The issuing of
the 2G licenses occurred in 2008, but the scam came to public notice when the Indian
Income Tax Department investigated political lobbyist NiiraRadia and the Supreme
Court of India took SubramaniamSwamy's complaints on record [With Case type: Writ
Petition (Civil),Case No:10, Year:2011].[1] The case details of the main PIL filed with the
supreme court is Typewritten Petition (Civil),Case No:423, Year:2010.
ArunShourie - the minister for Telecom during 2003 in the previous BJP regime. It was
ArunShourie who introduced the controversial technology neutral "Unified Access(both
Basic A. Raja - the Ex-Minister of Communications and Information Technology who
was the minister when the controversial second round of spectrum allocations took
place. Mr. Raja, an MP of the DravidaMunnetraKazhagam from the Nilgiris constituency,
was forced to resign following the public outcry. Manmohan Singh, - Prime Minister of
India from heading the ruling UPA government led by the Congress, who is accused of
3 | S AT N A M S I N G H

not acting on removing Raja, the main accused in the scam in spite of Finance minister
Chidambaram's warning to him .In a note to the PM on January 15, 2008, Chidambaram
had reiterated the finance ministry's suggestion to auction spectrum as the price would
be based on scarcity value. He then went on to suggest this could be used as one-time
for additional spectrum. 3. Politicians involved & Cellular) Services License", which
allowed fixed line operators who had paid much lower license fees to offer mobile phone
services, at first in the limited WLL mode (Wireless local loop) and later, following an out
of court settlement between mobile operators and the BJP govt, full mobility. This gave
an advantage to players like Reliance and Tata Teleservices who managed to get
mobile spectrum without paying the hefty fees that earlier operators like BPL Mobile had
paid.
R K Chandolia - private secretary of Raja during UPA-I when the licences were
awarded. He was an Indian Economic Service officer of the 1984 batch cadre. When
Raja became the Telecom Minister once again in UPA-II, Chandolia had been promoted
to the Joint Secretary rank. Raja re-designated him Economic Adviser, that gave him the
charge of all important policy-related work. Chandolia interacted with all the licensees. It
is said that it was Chandolia who, from DDG- access services A K Srivastava's room,
had handed out letters of intent to representatives of various companiesPradipBaijal a bureaucrat who is alleged to have implemented policies that favored certain Telecom
companies when he was heading the TRAI. Post retirement, Baijal joined Noesis, a
consulting firm. Raja has made references to Baijal's decisions in 2003 as the basis for
his decisions in 2008. The houses and offices of the bureaucrat were recently when
raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation as part of their investigations.
Siddhartha Behura - former telecom secretary who served in the DOT at the time of the
2G allocation. 4. Bureaucrats involved
PrashantRuia - Essar GroupShahidBalwa - DB Realty and DB Etisalat (formerly Swan
Telecom) Anil Ambani - Reliance Group (ADAG) Allianz Infra Dishnet Wireless
Vodafone Essar Tata Communications SistemaShyam Mobile Reliance

4 | S AT N A M S I N G H

Communications S Tel Videocon Telecommunications Loop Mobile Swan

Unitech5. Corporations Corporative involved personalities involved
Raja, Behura and Chandolia were arrested on Feb 2nd 2011. The CBI conducted
raids on Raja and four other telecom officials - former telecom secretary
SiddharthBehura, Raja's personal secretary R K Chandolia, member telecom K Sridhar
and DoT deputy director general A K Srivastava on 8 December 2010. In response to
the various allegations , the Govt of India has replaced the then incumbent Telecom
minister ,A Raja with KapilSibal who has taken up this charge in addition to being the
Union minister for Human Resources Development. MrSibal contends that the "notional"
losses quoted are a result of erroneous calculations and insists that the actual losses
are nil. In mid November the comptroller VinodRai issued show-cause notices to
Unitech, S Tel, Loop Mobile, Datacom (Videocon), and Etisalat to respond to his
assertion that all of the 85 licenses granted to these companies did not have the upfront capital required at the time of the application and were in other ways illegal. Some
media sources have speculated that these companies will receive large fines but not
have their licenses revoked, as they are currently providing some consumer service.
In early November 2010 Jayalalithaa accused the Tamil Nadu state chief minister M
Karunanidhi of protecting A. Raja from corruption charges and called for A. Raja's
resignation. By mid November A. Raja resigned. 6. Response to Scam
The first casualty in Stock Markets once Raja was arrested was DB Realty. DB Realty
had given 200+ crores to KalaignarTV( owned by Karunanidhi's Wife) . The news led to
20% fall in the stock prices of DB Realty. Sun TV had its shares fall by 10% on the next
day following rumours of KalanidhiMaran having stake in Kalaignar TV. Sun TV COO
refused the allegations. Swan Telecom Chief Balwa was arrested on Feb 8 and this led
to rumours of links with Anil Ambani's Reliance ADAG and it led to 20% fall of his
stocks . Its
1. The 2G Spectrum Scam Story
2. How did it start?OnNovember, 2008, Subramanian Swamy wrote to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and followed it up with four more letters seeking sanction to
5 | S AT N A M S I N G H

prosecute A. Raja in regards to 2G telecom spectrum political corruption scam.When

the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh didn't take any decision Swamy went to Supreme
Court. On 27 November 2010 Subramanian Swamyanounced that he will file a criminal
case against former union minister A. Raja in the 2G Spectrum Scam before the Special
Court for Corruption Cases in connection with the charges of irregularities in 2G
spectrum allocation
3. What Happened?2G licenses issued to private telecom players at throwaway prices
in 2008CAG: Spectrum scam has cost the government Rs. 1.76 lakh croreCAG: Rules
and procedures flouted while issuing licenses.Person accused is the Telecom
minister : A.Raja
4. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said it has submitted to the
government the report on the 2G spectrum allotment that is presumed to have caused a
revenue loss of up to Rs. 1.76 lakh crore.
5. CAG ReportCAG has accused the telecom ministry for undervaluing 2G spectrum,
sold to new players in 2008, and held that the allotment price was not realistic, which
has caused a revenue loss of up to Rs. 176,700 crore to the government.The report is
also believed to have castigated telecom minister A Raja for ignoring the advice of
finance and law ministries on allocation of 2G spectrum to benefit a few operators.It is
also believed to have criticised telecom regulator TRAI standing as a helpless spectator
when its recommendations were being ignored or misused.The CAG report said the
price at which the spectrum was alloted in 2008 was based on 2001 prices, which was
quite low and has resulted in a loss to the government exchequer.Also, no proper
auction method was followed and no bids were taken to sell out the spectrum.
7. Yielding to relentless opposition pressure, Union telecom minister A Raja resigned 0n
the wake of the 2G Spectrum allocation scam on 14th november.He was arrested by the
CBI on 2nd February.
8. Who All Benefited from This Scam ?2G spectrum was allocated beyond contracted
quantity to 9 firms including Bharti, Vodafone, Idea, BSNL, Reliance, Aircel," the report
said.NiiraRadia

is

6 | S AT N A M S I N G H

said

to

be

involved.Read

her

details.Department

of

Telecommunications (DoT) circumvented the rules to help Swan Telecom, which

effectively acted as a front for Reliance Telecommunications. The charges in the CAG
report are that Swan should not have been considered for a license because Reliance
Communications held 10.7% stake in Swan - and according to the rules, a telecom
operator cannot own more than 10% stake in another telecom company operating in the
same service area. "Email ID of Swan Telecom was shown as that of a Reliance ADA
group official
9. Another big beneficiary of the 2G spectrum allocation was Unitech Wireless, which
had no experience in the telecommunication sector.AfterUnitech got the license for a
throwaway price of Rs. 1,661 crore, it sold 60 per cent stake to Telenor Asia for a
whopping Rs. 6,200 crore.
10. Parties Involved with the 2G Case
11. Politicians involvedA. Raja, the Ex-Minister of Communications and Information
Technology who was the minister when the controversial second round of spectrum
allocations took place. ArunShourie, the minister for Telecom during 2003 in the
previous BJP regime. PramodMahajan, the minister for Telecom between 1999 and
2003.
12. Bureaucrats involvedSiddharthaBehura, former telecom secretary who served in the
DOT at the time of the 2G allocation.PradipBaijal, a bureaucrat who is alleged to have
implemented policies that favored certain Telecom companies when he was heading the
TRAI. R K Chandolia, private secretary of Raja during UPA-I when the licences were
awarded. He was an Indian Economic Service officer of the 1984 batch cadre.
13. Corporations involvedUnitech Group a real estate company entering

the telecom

industry with its 2G bid; sold 60% of its company stake at huge profit to Telenor after buying
licensing (Including land values properties for towers)Swan Telecom sold 45% of its
company stake at huge profit to Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) after
buying

licensingLoopMobileVideocon

Telecommunications

LimitedSTelRelianceCommunicationsSistemaShyam Mobile (MTS) Sistema Mobile

RussiaTataCommunicationsVodafoneEssarDishnetWirelessAllianz Infra
7 | S AT N A M S I N G H

14. Media persons and lobbyists involvedNiraRadia, a former airline entrepreneur

turned corporate lobbyist whose conversations with politicians and corporate entities
were recorded by the government authorities and leaked creating the NiraRadia tapes
controversy.BarkhaDutt, an NDTV journalist alleged to have lobbied for A. Raja's
appointment as minister.VirSanghvi, a Hindustan Times editor alleged to have edited
articles to reduce blame in the NiraRadia tapes.
15. PetitionersSubramaniamSwamy, activist lawyer and politician, whose letters to the
Prime Minister demanding action and affidavits and cases in the Supreme Court
brought the issue into the public limelight.ParanjoyGuhaThakurta, a journalist who was
one among the very first to write on the irregularities in the awarding of 2G

2.

History of 2G scam

Raja arranged the sale of the 2G spectrum licenses below their market value. In 2007,
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had given its recommendations on pricing of 2G
spectrum to A.Raja but he did not place the recommendations before the full Telecom
Commission which, among others, would have included the Finance Secretary. [13] In November
2007 Prime Minister of IndiaDrManmohan Singh had written a letter to telecom minister A.
Raja directing him to ensure allotment of 2G spectrum in a fair and transparent manner and to
ensure license fee was properly revised. Raja wrote back to the Prime Minister rejecting many
of his recommendations.[14] In the same month "Finance Ministry" wrote letter to "Department
of Telecom" raising concerns over the procedure adopted by it [15] but "Department of Telecom"
went ahead with its plan of giving 2G licenses. It proponed the cut-off date to September 25,
from October 1, 2007. Later on the same day, DoT posted an announcement on its website
saying those who apply between 3.30 and 4.30 pm would be issued licenses in accordance
with the said policy.[16] Companies like Unitech& Swan Telecom got licenses without any prior
telecom experience.
8 | S AT N A M S I N G H

The 2G spectrum scam

This is the biggest scam till now in India. The Supreme Court said that this 2G Scam is the
mother of all the Scams.
The 2G spectrum scam involved officials in the government of India illegally undercharging
mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would use to create
2G subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the money
which the law mandated to be collected is 1, 76,379crore rupees or USD 39 billion. The issuing
of licenses occurred in 2008, but the scam came to public notice when the Indian Income Tax
Department was investigating political lobbyist NiraRadia.
The government's investigation and the government's reactions to the findings in the
investigation were the subject of debate, as were the nature of the Indian media's reactions.
The discussion around the reactions to the 2G spectrum scam became known in the media as
the NiraRadia tapes controversy.

A Raja ,theEx-Minister of Communications andInformation Technology , is an Indian politician

from the DMK, who sold the licences and played a key role in 2G Scam and also who knows
full details regarding 2G Scam.
Generally , Tele Communication companies have to take licence from Government by paying
large amounts for their operations and also Government have many rules to give permission
for new companies in Tele Communication.So,due to Raja , many companies got the licences
very

cheaply

and

also

many

new

companies

started

their

services

with

outeligibilitycriteria,which is illegal.
Following is the information given by Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG):
On nov 11th,The Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) announced that revenue loss for India
due to Raja at Rs.1.8L Cr.

9 | S AT N A M S I N G H

CAG indicts Raja:

CAG says Raja caused Rs.177,000crore loss to India.
Licences issued in 2008,pegged at 2001 prices.
Rajas ministry sold spectrum to 9 companies in 2008 using faulty &outdatedpolicy,causing
Rs.140,000 crore loss.
Doled out additional airwaves to existing telecos beyond what they were entitled to,causing an
additional loss of nearly Rs.37,000 crore to exchequer.
Raja gave dual licence permits to RCOM & Tata tele in 2008 using old policy , causing a loss
of up to Rs.37,000 cr.
Raja ignored advice of Telecom RegulatoryTRAI , Finance Ministry & Law Ministry on pricing
airwaves at realistic & market-driven rates.
He ignored Prime Ministers advice also to favouring some corporates,Raja flouted all norm

New Delhi: India is the world's second-largest telecom market in terms of subscribers - it has
900 million subscribers. So far, the telecom sector has been crowded with more than a dozen
players. Call rates in India among the lowest in the world.
Now that the Supreme Court has cancelled 122 licenses, here is a quick look at the likely
impact.

3.

Main issues in 2G Spectrum Scam:

10 | S A T N A M S I N G H

2G licences at throwaway prices

Rules bent,no procedures followed.

Cut-off date advanced

No auction,no bids.

First-come-first-served.

Swan Telecom licence:Rs.1537 crore

Sold 45% stake:Rs.4200crore

Mobile subscriber base:

2008:350 million

4.

Effect s On 2G Scam

4.1 IMPACT ON INDIAN ECONOMY

Indian economy, at present is only next to China as far as its growth rate is concerned.

Still the
worrying point is the fiscal deficit which, inspite of all efforts is more than 5 per cent of

Indias
GDP and is mounting year after year. As per the audit report of Comptroller and Auditor
Generalof India (CAG), the Government of India was expected to earn somewhere
between Rs. 57,666

11 | S A T N A M S I N G H

crore to Rs. 1.76 lakh crore had the fair dealings been done in the spectrum allocation.

The actual
realisation, in turn was only Rs. 12,386 crore. Now, since the exercise is to be repeated

once
again and that too in a fair manner, the target envisaged by CAG is looking realistic to

attain.
Hence, India is likely to earn huge revenue which, in turn would help the country in

controlling
sky high fiscal deficit persisting for some time now.
India is also hoping to get Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on account of foreign players

seeking
licence in the new 2G auctions. India definitely needs the same to push for attaining its

growth
targets. The only worrying factor, however is that prospective foreign entrants may

restrain from
investing in the country looking at the plight of those who entered in 2008. The

Government
need to come out with a statement that whatever was done wrong in the past are a

history and
that transparency would be ensured in the new bids.
One of the negative outcomes of the verdict on the countrys economy would be

marginal
increase in the unemployment. The companies, which have been asked to shut their

businesses,
were already employing good number of people. Uninor alone, for instance has a

workforce
comprising of 17,500 persons. Adding to it, the company has 22,000 partners. Thus,

both direct
as well as indirect employment is going to be adversely affected on account of the
verdict. One

however hopes that this will be short run phenomenon and the displaced workforce
would be

12 | S A T N A M S I N G H

4.2 IMPACT ON GOVERNMENT ASSUMING OFFICE

The verdict of Supreme Court is certainly an indictment on the Government. No

doubt, the
Government is putting blame on the individual, who was the concerned minister at
that point of

13 | S A T N A M S I N G H

time yet, either of the two i.e ignorance of the Government or inability to control the

minister of
the coalition partner is a certainty. Both do not argue well for the Government. The

opposition
parties are demanding nothing less than the Governments head. Even the coalition

parties (other
than DMK) have started dictating terms to Congress on account of it. The image of

the
Government around the globe has also taken a beating. Writing on the wall is getting

clearer for
it with every passing day.
Inspite of the political fallout, the Courts order may still be counted as a blessing in

disguise for
the Government. The auction of new licenses may put much needed money in its

pocket. The
same will give it fiscal cushion. The Finance Minister himself had opined that on

account of
countrys high demand and requirement, improving revenue would be his topmost

priority. Now,
he has got a chance to fetch good money through 2G auction in the coming months.

The
Government may be ruing political fallout yet; the finance minister may be feeling

happy from
the core of his heart.
The courts verdict has ensured that Government will be having no say whatsoever

in deciding
method to be followed for future 2G auctions. It will be the Supreme Court which will

be
dictating terms to the Government as to how to issue the licences. The Government
will thus be a

4.3 IMPACT ON EXISTING LICENSE HOLDERS

There is no denying the fact that licence holders of the auction of 2008 are going to be
the worst

14 | S A T N A M S I N G H

Sufferers of Supreme Courts verdict. No doubt they were the partners in eye-opener

scam yet,
the fact remains that they made investment only after getting necessary clearances

from the
Government. Few of these are claiming that they are suffering even after being fully

compliant at
Each stage of the licence allocation process.
At the outset, the business of these licence holders is to be wrapped up. Most of these

have
already made huge investments in the country. Telenor, for instance, the co-partner in

Uninor has
so far invested Rs. 6100 Crore in equity and over Rs. 8000 Crore in corporate

guarantees as
foreign investor. Similarly, Sistema of Russia, the partner of Shayam group of India has

so far
spentRs. 12,500 Crore. The disgraced operators collectively would bear the loss of Rs.

9000
Crore for the amount paid as the licensing fees.
Adding insult to the injury would be a fine of Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 5 Crore that each

operator would
have to pay. No doubt, the amount is meagre for any good business undertaking yet,

fine in itself
is sufficient enough to dent its image. The image of the operators in global scenario is

also going
to get beating. Adding to all these would be the assets that these existing licence

holders would
have to sell. They may even have to contend with throwaway prices they would get for
the same.

4.4 IMPACT ON OLD OPERATORS

If the verdict has broken the heart of licence holders of 2008, the old operators like
BSNL, Bharti

15 | S A T N A M S I N G H

Airtel and Vodafone may find a big smile on their face on account of it. In a fiercely

competitive
market, if the old players could tap the customers of the outgoing players, it would be a

huge
bonus for them. The same would give much needed boost to their earnings. There are

more than
7-Crore subscribers of the outgoing operators and through number portability; the old

operators
may get an easy access to these subscribers.
Another benefit that would accrue to the old operators would be that these can tap the

assets of
the outgoing operators. The old operators if are deciding to leave the market and not

indulge in
new bids, would not have too many options but to sell their assets at rather low prices.

The old
operators meanwhile can grab the opportunity with both hands by purchasing the

assets of the
old operators.

IMPACT ON NEW OPERATORS

16 | S A T N A M S I N G H

Needless to say, the farewell to existing licence holders would pave way for opening of

doors for
prospective operators. A good thing that is going to happen for them is that a fair

dealing would
be ensured as Court would keep a direct vigil on the entire allotment. Moreover, the

Government
would never allow the history to repeat itself after the thrashing it has got from the court

and
everywell wisher of the country. Thus, genuine operators would feel safe and secure at

least till
the completion of the auction process. Still, the image of the country is dented and the

operators
especially the foreign ones would always remain perturbed with what is going to be in

store for
them in the country which is overpowered by the corruption.

17 | S A T N A M S I N G H

4.5

IMPACT ON CUSTOMERS

The existing customers of the outgoing operators may experience a temporary loss of
connection.

However, they still will have ample time to switch over to the old operators. The number

portability scheme would be making their life even easier. Thus, the customers should
not be

bothered much by the happening. The new operators, meanwhile, would be having a
task cut out

for them as prospective customers would be tempted to give privilege to old and
established

18 | S A T N A M S I N G H

4.6 IMPACT ON INVESTORS

The investors in the shares of outgoing operators would definitely be ruing their luck as
the

shares of the companies like Unitech and DB Realty etc. have been touching the
ground after the

courts verdict. Their initial inflated prices would further ensure that losses to their
investors are

much higher. Those who had invested in Idea, BhartiAirtel etc. (The old operators),
meanwhile

would be finding it hard to control their smiles as their shares are rocketing up after the
verdict.

Thus, the verdict is having its say on investors as well.

19 | S A T N A M S I N G H

5.

ALLEGATIONS

CHEAP TELECOM LICENCES

Rules changed after the game had begun
Cut-off date for applications advanced by a week
Licenses issued on a first-come-first-served basis
No proper auction process followed, no bids invited
Raja ignored advice of TRAI, Law Ministry, Finance Ministry
TRAI had recommended auctioning of spectrum at market rates

WEB Of Allegations:
CAG says telecom ministry had flouted every canon of financial propriety,rules and
procedures.
Raja issued licences to ineligible applicants:85 of 122 licences issued in 2008 were illegal as
these cos had disclosed incomplete information , submitted fictitious documents and used
fraudulent means to get permits.
Allianz Infratech ,Datacom(Videocon), Unitech(Telenor), S Tel, Loop Mobile and Etisalat were
not eligible for mobile prmits.
Swan Telecom appeared to act as a front company on behalf of Anil Ambhani-led Reliance
Telecom.
Profit list for spectrum changed in Punjab & Maharashtra to favour Swan.
Telecom ministry gave undue benefits to RCOM & Swan.

Spectrum of Controversies:
Spectrum Scam:
20 | S A T N A M S I N G H

Amount paid by new Telecos for a pan-India licence in 2008: Rs.1,651crore.

Estimated loss to exchequer on selling licences cheap:Rs.140,000crore.

Easy Money:
Swan Telecom taken the licence for Rs.1537 crore and sold 45% stake to UAEs Etisalat for
$900m(Rs.4200 cr).
Unitech taken licence for Rs.1661 crore and sold 60.00% to Norways Telenor for $1.1
billion(Rs.6200 cr).
S Tel sold 49% to Bahrains Batelco for about $225m.
On nov 14th Raja quit as congress refuses to relent and KapilSibal taken the charge.
Actions Taken By The Government To Prevent The 2G Scam:
Enforcement Directorate(ED) has writeen to countries from where money was received by
Indian firms for details on investors & source of funds.
It is also examing role of prominent corporate lobbyist who is alleged to have player a role in
influencing the way the permits were awarded to new companies.
Opposition (BJP)to press for Joint Parliamentary Committee probe.
Janata Party President SubramaniamSwamy filed a complaint in Supreme Court on Raja.So,
the issue is in SC.
The Telecom Regulatory has asked the Government to cancel 62 of the 122 licences issued by
former Telecom Minister A Raja.
The CAG in its report said 85 of 122 licences given to six companies , notably
Uninor,Videocon,LoopMobile,STel,Etisalat and AllinzInfratech were illegal as these firms were
not eligible to obtain them.
ED quizzes NiiraRadia,who is a lobbyist & owner of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications that
handles PR for of all Tata companies for role in 2G Scam for 7hours.
Supreme Court given the case to CBI for investigation.
CBI raids Raja across the Spectrum.
CBI searches Raja houses in Delhi,Chennai.
21 | S A T N A M S I N G H

SC questions Rs.10,000cr loans to new licences.

Court asked CBI to examine the feasibility of probing the allocation of radio spectrum since
2001,when BJP-Led NDA Government was in power.
Judges appealed to be critical of a decision by SBI to lend Rs.2500 cr to Uninor.
CBI told to court that they will complete the investigation in 3 months,later they told they need
6 months time.

6. Suggestion

The proceedings of the parliamentary committees should be made available to the

media and public,so that people can understand the issue clearly.

The Government must take the serious and severe decisions especially in these type of
scams,so that no one tries to cheat.

Government has to prove itself by arresting the illegal

persons, whether they are

anybody.

Both media and the general public must create an awareness that the government is a
trustee of public money and assets and the people are the real owners.

Media has played an important role in curving a public opinion .So,alert citizen and
conscientious media.

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CONCLUSION

To sum up, it may be said that 2G verdict may have an adverse impact on many
stakeholders to

it. The same will put the existing licence holders and their customers and investors and
the

Government in a spot of bother. Yet, the same will go a long way in keeping a check on

unethical political-corporate sector nexus in future. This, in turn will help the country and
its

Economy in flourishing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
WEBSITE
Www.Wikipedia .com
www.scribed .com
www.Hr factor.com
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Daily Newspaper
1. Times of India
2. Financial Times
3. Economic Times

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