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3G auction: Bidding close to Rs 135 billion mark
NEW DELHI: Bids for the 3G auction continue to rise even after 26 days, and stood at Rs 134.74 billion after 148 rounds, almost Rs 100 billion more than the base price of Rs 35 billion.
However, there are clear signs of slow down with applications for price increment for the first round tomorrow coming down to Rs 243 million from Rs 400 million last week for Mumbai, which has so far attracted the highest bid and today stood at Rs 24.34 billion as against Rs 23.73 billion for Delhi.
Karnataka closed at Rs 14.02 billion, Tamil Nadu at Rs 12.87 billion, the rest of Maharashtra at 11.50 billion, and Andhra Pradesh at Rs 11.14 billion. Gujarat closed at Rs 10.34 billion, West Uttar Pradesh went up to Rs 3.93 billion, and Kolkata clocked Rs 3.84 billion. East Uttar Pradesh rose to Rs 2.84 billion, Punjab closed at Rs 1.93 billion, Bihar rose to Rs 1.07 billion, Orissa went up to Rs 402.4 million, the North-East rose to Rs 330.9 million, and Assam went up to Rs 327.7 million
The bids for Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh remained unchanged. And with no applications for price increment for tomorrow, the bids for some service centres are expected to slow down
The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.
The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
