Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh?s statement that he did not intervene on pricing and allocation of 2G spectrum, as modalities were agreed upon between the Finance Ministry and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), is likely to be scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), according to news reports .
According to PAC?s members, Dr Singh?s assertion contradicted a statement made by D. Subbarao, RBI Governor in letters exchanged between the Finance Ministry and DoT.
Prior to this, Dr Singh had said that spectrum allocation was done with the knowledge of the Ministry of Finance. He added that he did not proceed further with this matter, because the Ministry of Finance and DoT had reached a consensus. He added that TRAI and the Telecom Commission, too, shared similar views and therefore, he was in no position to insist that auctions must be carried out.
However, it is believed that Dr Singh may find it difficult to adhere to this view, in light of a letter the then finance minister P. Chidambaram had written to him in 2005, objecting to the pricing. Chidambaram had argued for the auction of spectrum.
