New Delhi: Online auctions for 730 FM radio channels in 234 cities across the country are scheduled to start later this month, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju said on Thursday.
Addressing the Broadcasting Engineering Society Expo here, Jaju said over 20 top companies from across the country have participated in bids that were invited for the auction under the Private FM Radio Phase III policy.
“There are a lot of gains being made now in terms of the private FM radio. The auctions for private FM radio are slated to start this month,” Jaju said.
“I am sure that it will get good participation from many of the players,” he said.
In August last year, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposal to conduct the third batch of 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 III policy.
In October last year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting invited applications for e-auctions. Six months later, in April this year, the Ministry issued Amendment No. 1 to the Auction Rules for Private FM Radio Batch III channels e-auction under Phase III.
According to the amendment, the Ministry has extended the duration of each round in the Rank-wise Multiple Rounds allocation stage from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.
This change aims to provide bidders with more time per round during the allocation stage, potentially facilitating a more considered bidding process.
