Govt gets Rs 263 cr in bid deposits of FM radio Phase-III

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry today said it has received Rs 263.97 crore in Bid Deposits from successful bidders following the e-auction of the first batch of private FM radio Phase-III channels.
A quantum of 25 per cent of the successful bid amount for a channel was set as the Bid Deposit in the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) dated March 2, 2015, the ministry said in a statment here.
Successful bidders had to pay the Bid Deposits for winning channels within five calendar days of the notification of auction results.
The ministry had notified the list of successful bidders of the first batch on September 16, comprising details of 14 successful bidders for 91 channels in 54 cities along with winning prices and selected frequency spots.

The successful bidders will now have to pay the balance amount within 15 calendar days of the notification, that is, by October 1.
On receipt of the full successful bid amount, that is, Non-refundable One Time Entry Fee (NOTEF) within the stipulated time, the ministry will issue Letter of Intent to the bidders to enable them to complete further formalities, the statement said.

HT Media Ltd deposited a sum of over Rs 84.94 crore while Entertainment Network India Ltd deposited a sum of over Rs 84.81 crore.
Among other companies which submitted Bid Deposits were Abhijit Realtors & Infraventures Pvt Ltd, Abir Buildcon Pvt Ltd, DB Corp Ltd, Digital Radio (Delhi) Broadcasting Ltd, Digital Radio (Mumbai) Broadcasting Ltd, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd, Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd and Odisha Television Ltd.

Also, Rajasthan Patrika Pvt Ltd, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd, Renderlive Films & Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Sarthak Films Pvt Ltd paid Bid Deposits.