The opposition in India has been asking for Raja’s resignation for a number of months, but matters came to a head after a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) was leaked to the local media.

The report alleged that the minister may have caused large losses to the country’s exchequer by allotting licenses bundled with spectrum at low prices to nine operators, according to the media reports.

Raja, who belongs to the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) party, a coalition partner in the federal government, resigned late Sunday. He told reporters that he had not broken any laws, and would prove it. He had resigned to avoid embarrassment to the federal government, he said.

India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said last year that it has registered cases against some officials of the country's Department of Telecommunications (DOT), private sector companies and some individuals, in connection with alleged irregularities related to the award of telecommunications licenses by the DOT.

The CBI did not name the individuals or companies that have been charged under the country's Prevention of Corruption Act.