New Delhi, February 11: The much-talked about 2G spectrum allocation scam, which not only caused an estimated loss of Rs 1.77 lakh crores to the state’s exchequer but also made former Telecom minister A Raja richer by some Rs 3,000 crores, claims a report on Friday.
A joint investigation into the 2G scam by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has revealed that A Raja made Rs 3,000 crores in bribes due to his policy of selling spectrum at a much cheaper rates causing a loss of Rs 40,000-50,000 crore to the nation, as per a report by a leading news daily.
As per the report, the probe also revealed that Raja made Rs 3,000 crore through his January 2008 order, which brought forward the cut-off date for sending applications for 2G spectrum allocation from the previously announced date of October 21, 2007 to September 25, 2007.
This tactics automatically eliminated many bidders for telecom spectrum and also enabled Raja to favour a few with spectrum allocations. However, in the process, he allegedly earned bribes to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore.
However, these estimates of A Raja’s new-found wealth and the subsequent loss, which it caused to the exchequer, is not mentioned in the progress report submitted by the CBI and ED to the Supreme Court on Thursday.
In their report, the two agencies claimed that some companies, who were eventually allotted the spectrum, were aware of the deadline switch as they got their demand draft for the licence fees ready even before the cut-off date of September 25, 2007.
As part of their probe, the two agencies have accused telecom companies like Swan Telecom, Unitech, Videocon, S-Tel and Aircel for colluding with A Raja.
Based on its probe, the CBI and the ED also claimed that the new licencees got huge foreign investments. One of them brought in share capital worth USD 625 million. CBI counsel KK Venugopal told the court the licencees attracted investments in US, Japanese, and Mauritian currency.
-Agencies