"The price of 3G auction in metro cities and also in someof the A circles should be substantially higher than thereserve price," Mahesh Uppal, director at telecoms consultingfirm Com First. "Reserve price matters primarily when the competition islow," he said. The finance ministry wanted the floor price doubled to40.40 billion rupees, a figure that is yet to be cleared by acommittee of ministers. The number of slots to be put on theblock would also be reviewed.

There will be heavy demand for spectrum in larger servicesareas and bids could be sharply higher than the floor price, ananalyst said. The sale has been delayed from this January after highprices fetched by private telecoms companies for selling stakesprompted a review of the floor price. The auction, which would allow telecoms firms to offerservices such as high-speed Internet and video downloads onmobile phones, is scheduled to happen by December Thegovernment had initially aimed to get 200 billion rupees. NEW DELHI, July 6 (Reuters) - India expects to collect 350billion rupees ($7.2 billion) from an upcoming auction ofthird-generation (3G) radio spectrum, the annual budget showedon Monday, up 75 percent from an earlier target. The amount is a sharp increase from the 21.12 billion rupees($436.4 million) initially allotted for the period until Marchend next year. (Reporting by N.Ananthanarayanan, editing by Justin Palmer; Toquery or comment on this story ).

"The Commonwealth Games present the country with anopportunity to showcase our potential as an emerging Asianpower," Mukherjee added while presenting the federal budget for2009-10 in parliament. The government as well as the organising committee are underpressure following delays in completing the venues and costoverruns, with the global financial crisis adding to concerns. About 80 percent of people infected by the deadly strain ofswine flu virus have recovered, he added, citing a report fromthe health department. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) Stocks France. NEW DELHI, July 6 (Reuters) - India has allotted 34.72billion rupees ($717 million) over the next year to finishprojects for the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games, financeminister Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday. "It's an overkill," Congressman Eduardo Zialcita, adding 19billion pesos was too much for one disease.