3G bids up 63 pc from base on auction on 7th day

One provisional winning bid for national cover in India's third-generation (3G) spectrum auction rose 63 per cent from the base to 57.10 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) on the seventh day of the auction, government data showed.

Forty rounds of bidding had been completed by Saturday, the Department of Telecommunications said on its website.

Nine mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone's Indian unit, are participating in the auction.

The auction, which began on April 9, may take about two weeks to complete, government officials have said.

There is no bidding on Sunday. The auction resumes on Monday.