CAG report on 2G not final, says Pranab Mukherjee

The Comptroller and Auditor General report on the allocation of 2G spectrum should not be taken as the final word on the subject, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday. HT reports. Full coverage

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the allocation of 2G spectrum should not be taken as the final word on the subject, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday.

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Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2010, Mukherjee said it was important to wait till the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had examined the report.

"It was the CAG's job is to point out the financial irregularities," he said.

"I'm not raising any doubts about CAG's bonafides. But this is not the end. The report will have to be re-examined by the PAC, further evidence will be called for. Only then will we have the final report of the CAG."

The CAG report has estimated the government lost revenue of around Rs 1.77 lakh crore because of the modalities of sale of spectrum adopted by former telecom minister A Raja in 2008.

A Parliament uproar over the alleged scam forced Raja to resign last Sunday.

The report uses the whopping revenue of Rs 1.06 lakh crore the government earned by auctioning 3G spectrum earlier this year to buttress its view that 2G spectrum was sold too cheap.

Mukherjee said extrapolating revenue estimates based on revenues earned by selling 3G spectrum may not be right.

"I expected auction of the 3G spectrum to realise around Rs 35,000 crore," he said. "I don't think anyone disputed that figure either."

In fact the earnings were much more.

"Please remember this type of calculation is sometimes made with hindsight after seeing experiences in other areas," he said.

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