Updated: Why was an auction needed now? Wasn’t this for the 5G rollout? Share Article AAA Why was an auction needed now? Wasn’t this for the 5G rollout? The story so far: Tuesday saw the end of India’s first auction of telecommunications spectrum in five years, with the government generating a revenue of ₹77,815 crore from the exercise. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio accounted for close to 60% of the spectrum bought, followed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. On offer was over 2,308 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum valued for the auction by the government at ₹3.92 lakh crore, and bids were successfully received for 37% or 855.6 MHz. The auction lasted less than two days.