Government sets up a panel of secretaries headed by Rajiv Gauba to streamline telecom spectrum allocation

The Government of India has constituted a panel of secretaries to streamline the spectrum allocation process and also make the auction of spectrum an annual calendar event.
The panel will be headed by the Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba. Other members of the panel would include the secretaries of home, defence, railways, telecom, I&B and department of space.
The panel will also look into the possibility of identifying spectrum which is likely to be released for commercial purposes in future and convey that to the telcos
This step has been taken to help the telecom companies to get a clear road map of the quantum as well as the frequency of spectrum on offer for commercial use, following which they can then plan their strategies more efficiently.
In the past 10 years, the government has auctioned spectrum only six times – in calendar years 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.