The war of words between Jairam Ramesh and Jyotiraditya Scindia broke out on X
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh attacked the Centre over its decision to assign spectrum for satellite-based communications administratively, drawing a sharp retort from Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
In a post on X, Mr Ramesh on Monday shared a question asked by his party colleague Viriato Fernandes in the Lok Sabha as to whether the government's decision to allocate satellite spectrum through administrative means rather than auctioning it is meant to facilitate the entry of billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink into the Indian market. Mr Musk had criticized the auction route and praised the government's decision to allocate the spectrum administratively.
In his written reply, Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said, "No Sir. The Telecommunications Act, 2023 provides for the assignment of spectrum through the administrative process for satellite-based services, listed in First Schedule of the Act."
"The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) grants authorisations under Unified License (UL) for providing Satellite-based commercial communication services. Satellite-based communication licenses are granted to any applicant, subject to acceptance and in compliance of the applicable licensing terms and conditions, including security conditions of India," he said.
Spectrum assigned administratively are also chargeable and hence contribute to revenue, Mr Sekhar said.
Sharing a picture of Mr Sekhar's written answer, Mr Ramesh said that a parliamentary question has confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has decided to assign spectrum for satellite-based communications administratively, without auctions, despite demands from many sections.
The government has stated on record that "spectrum assigned administratively are also chargeable and hence contribute to revenue", a position contrary to what PM Modi has been loudly proclaiming for many years, the Congress lawmaker said.
"Recall that the BJP reaped huge political dividends from the media frenzy generated by its proxies in the government over the UPA's allocation of 2G spectrum by administrative processes rather than auctions. Fraudulent revenue loss projections and an overactive judiciary ended up doing huge damage to the investment environment in telecoms," he charged.
Jyotiraditya Scindia's Response To Jairam Ramesh
Responding to Jairam Ramesh's post, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is the Minister for Communications, said the satellite spectrum cannot be auctioned due to "technical and operational" reasons.
No country in the world currently auctions satellite spectrum, he said.
"Well done Jairam Ramesh for coherently chronicling the abominable 2G scam, and spelling out how the Congress ended up digging its own grave then. The country cannot forget this blot on India's history; a scam that not just led to a colossal loss of Rs 1,76,645 crore to the exchequer, but also gave government-corporate collaboration its worst name, a.k.a crony capitalism," he wrote.
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also told Mr Ramesh that it was "rather ironical and ignorant" of him to point fingers at the Modi government in this regard.
"In the UPA era, spectrum was allocated via the opaque FCFS (first come, first served) policy, resulting in scams and losses. The Modi government PRIORITISES TRANSPARENCY & PUBLIC INTEREST- mobile telephony spectrum is now auctioned," he said.
"Satellite spectrum cannot be auctioned due to technical and operational reasons as I recently explained at a public forum. This distinction is also codified in Schedule 1 of the new Telecommunications Act 2023. Had you read the Act and participated more actively in the proceedings of the Parliament, you'd know better than to draw such absurd conclusions," Mr Scindia said.
He stated the satellite spectrum in the Ku band (around 14 GHz) and Ka band (27.1 to 31 GHz) is inherently shareable in nature and therefore it is neither desirable nor feasible to allocate it through auction.
Given that satellite spectrum is highly under-utilised, failing to assign it would result in two key disadvantages: potential loss of government revenue, and missed opportunities to advance technologically, which could help bridge the digital divide, the Minister said.
"Whereas the BJP under PM Modi has always sought to maximise governance, the Congress has a track record of maximising its own pockets at the expense of public interest. To top it off, it is the Congress that mastered the art of "manufacturing consent" to further its own agenda, and protect its own interests," he said.