The auction of 2G spectrum might be delayed, as the government may file a petition in the Supreme Court for an extension of the timeline. According to current SC directive, the auction has to be conducted by August 31 this year. However, due to procedural delays, the department of telecommunications is looking at extending the timeline.
The EGoM decided to auction a minimum of eight blocks in all service areas after reserving spectrum for refarming against the allocation of 900 MHz for incumbent operators whose licences will expire during 2014-2016.
It will also be new Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra's first GST Council meeting. He will take charge after the incumbent Tarun Bajaj retires on November 30.
The government takes pragmatic steps on telecom.
The second round of spectrum auction will begin in March after the Cabinet decides on reducing reserve price of 800 MHz band, used for offering CDMA-based mobile services.
It is pertinent to mention that the ministry of defence had agreed to vacate the spectrum only during middle of this year.
Draft bill seeks to provide grains to households in both priority and general categories and cooked meals to all others.
The Inter-Ministerial Group on restructuring of Delhi and Mumbai airports asked global consultant ABN-AMRO to shortlist the bidders, ten of whom have expressed interest in modernising these airports, by Thursday.
The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted recommendation of the empowered group of ministers that all existing mobile phone companies must pay one-time spectrum charge.
This is the tenth hike in the price of petrol in just over a year. With this hike, inflation is likely to rise sharply once again.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had asked officials in his ministry to finalise the draft by August 20 so that it could be in Parliament before the session concluded on August 27, said a finance ministry official.
In his letter dated October 11, written before the last EGoM meeting, Ambani has said the government would incur a loss of at least Rs 35,000 crore if the EGoM had decided to charge for excess spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz only prospectively from 2012, and not from 2008.
The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on telecom headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday decided to impose a one-time fee on incumbent operators prospectively for spectrum beyond 4.4 MHz in GSM and 2.5 MHz in CDMA.
The government on Friday decided to allocate five million tonnes of additional wheat and rice for distribution through ration shops to BPL families, giving them some relief from high food inflation.
A decision on the legal right of the poor to get wheat or rice at Rs 3 per kg was deferred on Thursday as Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar could not attend the meeting of a panel of ministers on the Food Security Bill on health grounds.
When Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee entered the Committee Room in North Block for the empowered group of ministers' meeting on fuel price hike on Monday, he found Communications Minister A Raja already sitting there.
The decision had been communicated to the department of telecommunications, a senior official of the department told Business Standard.
After natural gas prices, the government looks set to bite the bullet on auto fuel prices, with a panel of ministers scheduled to meet on June 7 to decide on freeing petrol and diesel prices.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the purchase of 68 aircraft by the country's flagship carrier Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday.
The empowered group of ministers, headed by P Chidambaram (who has now taken over as the Finance Minister) has suggested a 20 per cent lower base or reserve price at Rs 14,000-15,000 crore (Rs 140-150 billion) for 5 Mhz of airwaves as against around Rs 18,000 crore (Rs 180 billion) recommended by sectoral regulator Trai for the auction of spectrum vacated after the Supreme Court order.
Airbus Helicopters will partner with the Tata Group to establish a final assembly line for helicopters in the country, a development that will help in boosting indigenous manufacturing activities. This will be the second final assembly line that will be built by Airbus in India after the 'Make in India' C295 military aircraft manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The Final Assembly Line (FAL) will produce Airbus H125 helicopters from its civil range for India and for exporting to some of the neighbouring countries, Airbus Helicopter said in a statement.
In its election manifesto -- 'Sankalp Patra' -- the Bharatiya Janata Party has vowed to implement the Union Civil Code (UCC), maintain peace in the Northeast, among other key poll promises.
The Empowered Group of Ministers looking into the Dabhol power project fiasco is likely to meet on Friday to discuss ways to restart the plant that has been lying idle for over three years.
Oil Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday said his ministry is not in favour of raising diesel and domestic LPG prices as response to spurt in global crude oil prices, as the move will add to already high inflation rate.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has asked Communications Minister Andimuthu Raja to complete the auction of the third generation (3G) spectrum within the agreed deadline (February 15), so that the revenue from it can be reflected in the Union Budget for 2009-10. Mukherjee had earmarked Rs 30,000 crore as revenue from 3G auction, which has already been delayed by a year, in the Budget.
All subsequent cylinders will have a non-subsidised rate that will be fixed every month.
The Telecom Commission (TC) on Saturday put the onus of deciding the contentious issue of the base price for auction of 1,800 MHz of 2G band spectrum on the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The meeting of the empowered Group of Ministers on Dabhol Power, scheduled for October 8 to discuss ways and means of reviving the troubled 2,184 MW power project in Maharashtra, has been postponed.
PMO to have direct say in decision-making through MoS Narayanasamy.
Modi's last interaction with chief ministers was on March 17 during which he had expressed concern over the rise in COVID-19 cases in parts of the country and called for "quick and decisive" steps to check the "emerging second peak".
After the empowered group of ministers' meeting on the 3G spectrum auction, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was surrounded by journalists.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads an Empowered Group of Ministers on Special Economic Zones, is likely to consult Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resolve the dispute between finance and commerce ministries over tax exemption for export profits from the zones.
Four new players will be given spectrum along with one existing operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam or Mahanagar Telephone Nigam - in their respective circles.
Petrol price will go up Rs 3.73 a litre if the domestic prices are aligned with international rates.
An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) may go with Oil Minister Murli Deora's proposal to free petrol prices from government control, which would trigger a hike of Rs 3.73 a litre, official sources said.
An Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to meet on May 21 to decide on freeing petrol and diesel prices from government control.
With global crude oil prices climbing to their highest level in two-and-a-half years, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Friday said a ministerial panel will take a call on raising petrol and diesel prices.
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