The return of spectrum from BSNL may finally pave way to the auction of broadband wireless access on pan-India basis.  

According to the sources telecom ministry and finance ministry are in process of finalizing the nitty gritty of auction.

In October, BSNL sought government permission to return spectrum except in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. It said the airwaves allotted in 2009 were of a non-standardized band, making it difficult for the company to introduce services based on standard technologies.

BSNL is believed to have incurred a loss of more than Rs6,000 crore in 2010-11 because of payments made for buying 3G and BWA spectrum and high employee costs. Interest income from its huge cash surplus partly helped the company report profit till fiscal 2008-09. It registered a loss of Rs.1,823 crore in 2009-10.