secured 535.31 billion Indian rupees, orjust over $8 billion, ofbids on the first day of its spectrum auction, Reuters reported Oct. 1, citing a seniorgovernment official.

Datafrom the country's Department of Telecommunications showed that participatingoperators in the auction placed higher bids for 1800 MHz frequencies, whichalso work with 4G services and are cheaper than 700 MHz airwaves, Reutersreported. The agency will not release bidding data per telco until theauction's end.

Theparticipating companies are 's , 's,Reliance Jio Infocomm, 's ,, Airceland

Thegovernment expects to raise 5.66 trillion rupees in the auction.

Thebidding process is set to resume Oct. 3.

As of Sept. 30, US$1 wasequivalent to 66.58 Indian rupees.