Bids for an all-India license to offer faster wireless services reached 110.5 billion rupees ($2.46 billion) on the 22nd day of an auction, according to a statement on the department of telecommunication’s website.

Nine mobile-phone carriers including Vodafone Group Plc, the world’s largest, and Bharti Airtel Ltd., India’s biggest, are vying for the spectrum to offer third-generation services in the world’s second-largest wireless market by subscribers.

The government is auctioning spectrum for operating 3G services in India’s 22 designated telephone zones. It plans to sell 93 licenses to provide high-speed data to mobile phones and computers that may raise an estimated 500 billion rupees, helping reduce the nation’s fiscal deficit.

A total of 128 rounds have been completed in the auction and bidding activity will be extended to all zones in round 132, the statement said.

The government will issue daily updates on the bidding and all data collected from bidders will be made public after the auction is over.