NEW DELHI, INDIA: Union Minister for Telecommunications and IT,A. Raja, today said that he expects at least Rs. 25,000 crore from the auction of the 3G spectrum and radio bandwidth for third generation, or 3G, mobile phone and broadband wireless services.

Raja, who met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, said his department had assured the government of an early service rollout. "In connection with the 3G and WiMAX auctions, we assured (the Finance Minister) of an early rollout, an early auction and more revenue for the government," Raja told reporters.

According to a PTI report, Raja's estimate is lower than what the government had forecast last year when the 3G auction process was announced.

The the government had said that it expected Rs. 30,000 crore from 3G auction. However, this is higher that the Rs. 20,000 crore projected in the interim budget in February.

Raja also said even after two rounds of talks between the ministries of Finance and IT and Telecom, the issue pertainng to the pricing of the spectrum has not been resolved.

"No consensus could be reached on the base price, though we discussed various suggestions that whether we should go in for uniform base price or differentiate according to the telecom circles depending upon the commercial viability,” said Raja.

After taking charge of the ministry Raja had said that India would auction 3G spectrum by the end of this year.