The Radio Broadcast Policy Committee led by Ficci general
secretary Amit Mitra, which submitted its recommendations to information
and broadcasting minister R S Prasad today, has mooted 26 per cent
FDI in the sector as well as a lift from the current ban on news and
current affairs on private radio.
The panel, set up in September, has also asked the government to come
out with a policy on satellite radio channel uplink, lacking thus
far. The long pending demand of the FM players, that of a tender system
instead of the auctioning of licenses for private FM also finds mention
in the recommendations. The recommendations, if approved, would be
applicable when the government decides to go in for the second phase
of FM radio implementation in the country.
The panel has also suggested that the government get the existing
FM projects vetted by financial institutions for their commercial
viability. The panel has also mooted the formation of an independed
broadcast regulator, which would bring the broadcast sector under
its purview. |
