Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), the textile-to-oil group headed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has reportedly plans to place a bid for mobile phone spectrum in the upcoming auction, which is slated to take place in November.

Citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that RIL wanted to get hold of spectrum to complement its existing wireless broadband services with voice call facility.

According to the report, RIL will most likely participate directly in the auction. However if the company is unable to place a bid directly, it may finance a separate company to purchase of the spectrum and then acquire the company.

Representatives of Reliance's Infotel Broadband division recently attended meetings organized by Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on the upcoming spectrum auction.

RIL had acquired Infotel Broadband in 2010. At that time, Infotel Broadband had won pan-India spectrum for offering high-speed broadband internet. But the company lacks permission to offer voice calling facility.

At the end of the June quarter, RIL was sitting on a cash-pile of Rs 70,732 crore.

When contacted, a spokesperson for Reliance Industries Ltd. declined to comment on the report.