Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), which was set up by the Department of Telecom (DoT), is planning to begin the third round of spectrum auction in January 2014.

IMC intends to complete the considerations over TRAI's (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's) recommendations by the end of October 2013, and to make submissions to the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on spectrum by November 2013. The EGoM may approach the Cabinet for a final decision on reserve price for spectrum as it did for previous auctions.

The Telecom Commission has already completed the first round of considerations of the recommendations given by TRAI. However, the auction is to be conducted following a supreme court order. The first two rounds were held in November 2012 and March 2013 respectively.

The spectrum, proposed for auction in 900 Mhz, includes that of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone in Delhi and Kolkata and of Loop Mobile and Vodafone in Mumbai.