Telecom tariffs would rise 37 to 49 paise per minute led by the cabinet’s decision to fix the reserve price for the 2G spectrum auction at Rs.14,000 crore per 5 MHz in the 1,800 MHz band, an industry lobby for GSM operators said Monday.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which is also examining legal options against the government, said it will finalise its steps by the end of this week.

COAI also said this decision would lead to a rise in the industry debt to anywhere between Rs.3.7 lakh crore and Rs.5.4 lakh crore.

The final reserve price set by the cabinet is lower than the Rs.18,000 crore suggested by sector regulator TRAI.  According to COAI, the cabinet’s decision will severely affect the sustainability of the sector and further add to the investment drought that it is witnessing of late.