Number of community radio stations set to increase

The number of community radio stations is set to increase as a high-level committee formed by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry today examined over a hundred applications for starting new stations.
Sources said many of these applicants may be given the go ahead to start community radio stations.
The I&B Ministry has given permission to 450 community radio stations and of these over 200 are already functioning.
Several other companies also bagged FM Radio frequencies
like Purvy Broadcast in Aizwal and Haflong. Sambhaav Media got frequencies in Godhra, Jamnagar, Bharuch and some other places, while JCL Infra ltd. Emerged the provisional winner in Kargil, Kathua and Leh.

Ushodaya Enterprises (P) Limited bagged frequencies for two channels in Warangal apart from one each in Tirupati, Vijayawada and some other places, while Malar Publications got one frquency in Vellore.
In the first batch of the FM Phase III radio auctions, the I&B ministry had put up 135 channels for auction, and at closure of the e-Auction in September 2015, 97 channels had been sold provisionally in 56 cities. The cumulative winning price totalled about Rs 1156.9 crore against the aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 crore.