India’s 3G auction may be headed for more delays after its finance ministry decided that the base price of the sale should be doubled, reports the Economic Times. The bidding for the country-wide licenses was set to open on January 30, with a reserve price of 20.2 billion rupees ($412 million) for 3G spectrum and 11.1 billion rupees ($229 million) for WIMAX radio frequencies. The finance ministry, however, has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to increase the price and to resubmit the auction proposal for their approval. If the DoT decides to do this, it would mean that the auctions would definitely be delayed, as any changes to the bidding process would then have to be approved by the telecoms regulator.

India is one of the world’s fastest growing mobile markets, adding some 10 million new users a month and the Finance Ministry is eager to wring as much as they can from the auction. But fears have surfaced that the sale of the licenses, already delayed once, may not hit their target price of 400 billion rupees ($8 billion). Foreign operators have been permitted to participate in India’s 3G auction, but may stay away. Global operators have complained that the bidding is structured in favor of domestic operators, while the credit crunch has made it difficult to raise financing. Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), for one, noted in a letter in October to the DoT that the economic crisis meant that it was taking companies longer to raise the necessary funds. As ET notes, if foreign companies who were expected to bid “aggressively” sit this one out, the government would miss its original target price “by a long margin.” Doubling the reserve price gives their stated goal a chance of being reached.

• Vodafone Seeking To Postpone India’s 3G Auction