Telecom operators has so far collectively offered more than Rs 52,000 crore for 2G spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands, officials from the Department of Telecom (DoT) revealed.

DoT officials said yesterday that after 26 rounds of bidding for spectrum, telecom operators' bids for all the 22 regional zones or circles totaled at around Rs 52,500 crore. The auction was kick started on Monday this week.

The vale of bids in the ongoing 2G spectrum auction has already surpassed the bids achieved by the government in the two previous auctions.

Price of spectrum in Delhi jumped to Rs 645.63 crore, which is 79.3 per cent higher than reserve price. In Mumbai, it remained the same as the previous day at Rs 568.72 crore, which is 73.4 per cent higher than the reserve price.

In the 1800 MHz band of spectrum, price jumped the most in Assam. Price of spectrum in the circle jumped 34.22 per cent on day-to-day basis to Rs 2.51 crore, which is 79.3 per cent higher than its base price. Price in Maharashtra jumped to Rs 48.64 crore, 40.6 per cent higher than its base price.

Eight telecom operators including Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Telenor, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices Ltd are competing for spectrum. While India's biggest mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel is vying for 2G spectrum in the 900 MHz band in Mumbai, Vodafone is competing for additional spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata telecom circles.