The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal for the conduct of third batch of ascending e-auctions for 730 channels in 234 new cities with an estimated reserve price of Rs.784.87 crore under the Private FM Radio Phase Ill Policy.
Reportedly, the Cabinet also approved the proposal to charge the Annual License Fee (ALF) of the FM channel as four percent of gross revenue excluding Goods and Services Tax (GST). This will be applicable for 234 new cities or towns. The Private FM Radio Rollout in 234 new cities or towns claims to fulfill the unmet demand for FM radio in these cities or towns, which remain uncovered by private FM radio broadcasting, and bring new or local content in mother tongue.
As per the report, It will lead to the creation of new employment opportunities, boost to local dialect and culture, and ‘vocal for local’ initiatives. Furthermore, many of the approved cities or towns are in aspirational districts and LWE-affected areas. Setting up of private FM Radio in these areas are expected to further strengthen government outreach in these areas.
As per the report, there’s one new city in Andaman and Nicobar, 22 new locations in Andhra Pradesh, six in Assam, 18 in Bihar, three in Chattisgarh, one in Daman and Diu, eight in Gujrat, nine in Haryana, one in Jammu and Kashmir, six in Jharkhand, 16 in Karnataka, two in Kerala, one in Lakshadweep, 20 in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, one in Meghalaya and Mizoram, three in Nagaland, six in Odisha, nine in Punjab, 19 in Rajasthan, 11 in TamilNadu, 10 in Telengana, one in Tripura, 32 in UttarPradesh, two in Uttarakhand, 13 in West Bengal approved for fresh auctions.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook