Telecom Lead India: There is good news for telecom
companies bidding for the upcoming auction for 2G spectrum. The Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) has given permission to banks to lend telecom
companies for the scheduled spectrum auction.
However, the RBI has also defined some riders for lending
such as mortgaging the spectrum to the lenders. Speaking on the matter, RBI’s
deputy governor, Anand Sinha said the RBI laid down a few
pre-conditions for financing of telecom firms for the auction of airwaves to
protect banks against potential defaults.
The spectrum auction has recently got approval from the
Union cabinet with a base price of Rs 14,000 crore for the auction.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to permit telecom
companies bidding for airwaves to mortgage spectrum to raise funds from banks.
Sinha also explained concerns of the RBI regarding the
revision of lending rates by banks in specific maturities without lowering the
base rate.
The base rate is supposed to be responsive to changes in
monetary conditions. Sinha added that the Reserve Bank would certainly want the
responses to be through the base rate.
The RBI had formed a committee to assess the monetary
policy transmission mechanism and also loan products offering fixed interest
rate.
Spectrum price: Indian telecom industry may plunge into
darkness
The decision of the Union Cabinet to fix Rs 14,000 crore
as the reserve price for 2G spectrum licenses suggests that the Indian mobile
services will further plunge into darkness.
editor@telecomlead.com
