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NEW
DELHI: Licences for more than 90 FM stations in Class ‘C’
and ‘D’ cities, for which bids were not received
during Phase II, are to be auctioned soon, adding to the 57
private FM stations that are already operational.
Apart
from this, the government will also take a decision shortly
on 35 more applications for operating community radio stations,
apart from the 60 letters of intent already issued. Community
radio is now set to open to non profit and voluntary organizations,
besides educational institutions.
Official sources indicated that the date of auction for the
FM stations will be decided after the information and broadcasting
ministry reviews the operation of the 250 radio
stations which are expected to go on air by the year end.
The
auctioning of licences for 250 radio station across 91 cities
last year had brought the government revenues of Rs 11 billion.
After the virtual failure of the first phase, with very high
annual licence fee which had resulted in lengthy litigation,
the government in Phase II had adopted a revenue-sharing model.
A total of 22 private FM channels were operationalised in
Phase I, and one of these had closed down. The government
had earned a sum of Rs 370 million from the first auction
of 29 channels in 2000 as advance fee for setting up FM stations.
All
India Radio (AIR) was then projected to earn Rs 5.3 billion
in the first year from the auction of about 100 FM stations
in 40 cities in the first phase with a 15 per cent increase
every year, after setting out with a reserve price of only
Rs 754 million.
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