India expects 400 bln rupees from sale of mobile phone airwaves-finmin

NEW DELHI Oct 8 (Reuters) - India hopes to get 400 billion rupees ($7.71 billion) from the sale of mobile phone airwaves in 2012/13, finance minister P. Chidambaram told reporters on Monday.

The country is for the first time selling 2G mobile radio airwaves through open auction, following a Supreme Court order in February to revoke all permits awarded in a scandal-tainted 2008 state grant process and redistribute them in an open bidding process.