12:55 PM -- After 14 days of bidding, the price of a pan-India 3G license (covering all 22 circles/service areas) reached 83.82 billion Indian rupees (US$1.89 billion), almost 140 percent higher than the reserve price of INR35 billion ($791 million).

The Indian government is hoping the spectrum auction process, which began earlier this month, will help raise more than $10 billion once all the slots are sold. (See India 3G: And They're Off!)

Surpassing the capital city New Delhi for the first time, the metro circle of Mumbai recorded the highest provisional winning price of INR12.52 billion ($282.8 million). New Delhi was close behind with a price of INR12.09 billion ($273 million).

As anticipated, the fight for the 3G spectrum is a fierce one, with none of the nine players likely to give up soon. (See Bids Flood In for India's Spectrum Auctions.)

And once the 3G auction is over, the BWA (broadband wireless access) spectrum auction will begin, with some industry sources suggesting the bidding among the 11 participants for those airwaves will be even more intense.

For more details on the latest bids, visit the Department of Telecommunications auction results archive. — Gagandeep Kaur, India Editor, Light Reading