Despite India's Minister of the Communications and Information Technology expressed his expectation to see the commencement of 3G spectrum auction by the end of March 2009, India's long-anticipated 3G spectrum auction is unlikely to take place before the federal elections, the Hindu of India reported on March 18, citing Secretary of the DoT (Department of Telecommunications) of India. The elections will be held from April 16 to May 13. In related news, a panel of 10 ministers convened by the government in March 2009 is yet to decide the base price for the auction.