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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Auctions, options

Auctions, options

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published Published on Feb 6, 2012   modified Modified on Feb 6, 2012
-The Indian Express
 
SC is right that natural resources are held in public trust, but its comments on allocation are simplistic

In its ruling in the 2G spectrum allocation case, the Supreme Court said that auctions were the best route for allocation of finite natural resources. “While transferring or alienating the natural resources, the State is duty bound to adopt the method of auction by giving wide publicity so that all eligible persons can participate in the process,” it said. The court’s order makes sense in the specific context of the case it was dealing with — the award of telecom licences in 2008. What happened then was preposterous — rules were changed mid-way; spectrum was allocated out-of-turn to select players in a non-transparent manner, that too at 2001 prices.

How to allocate natural resources is a policy decision depending on a range of factors as was discussed in the report of the Ashok Chawla panel on the subject. For example, it called for a national law on water, treating it as a common resource and legislating its allocation and pricing; e-auctions for land similar to the exercise undertaken by the National Textiles Corporation to sell properties in Mumbai. Alienation of natural resources by the state depends on, among other factors, the nature of the resource — whether it is limited or regenerative; on the priority of the policy — allocation of public land for hospital, a university or for low-cost housing may need the government to lay down clear-cut principles; and also on the appetite of risk for market participants. Moreover, auctions work better when markets are more matured and developed. In coal, for instance, the market is still dominated by a single state-owned player and there is no regulator.

The telecom market has evolved rapidly in India and certainly there is an urgent need to move to market-based principles for spectrum allocation. In fact, time is ripe in India to allow trading of spectrum to address situations of shortage despite utilisation being sub-optimal. But, in some other sectors, auctions may have limited appeal. So the apex court’s sweeping statement that first come first served or any other method for allocation of scarce natural resources is likely to be misused misses the point. Price and purse (exchequer) are not the only two factors that determine policy which has to be transparent and rule-based.


The Indian Express, 6 February, 2012, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/auctions-options/908247/


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