63 win FM bids in north

The government stands to collect Rs 83.7 crore as one-time licence fee from the 76 FM radio frequencies given out today in the second round of licensing. These are for cities in the categories B, C and D in North India.

According to a press release, of the 104 bids received today, 63 were found successful.

On January 6, licences for 13 A and A+ category cities were given, from which the government stands to gain Rs 500 crore. The process for the remaining 57 B, C and D category cities in East, West and South will take place on January 20, 27 and February 3.

The amounts being bid now are one-time payments. Four years ago, when the first round of FM licences were given out, they were on the basis of licence fees that increased 15 per cent every year.

The major gainers today were Anil Ambani-controlled Adlabs, South Asia FM (from the Sun TV group in association with Malaysia's Astro), Radio Mirchi, the Jagran group, the Bhaskar group, and B A G Films.

Adlabs, which is emerging as a major player in the FM radio sector, lost out in a couple of cities. However, it won the only licence for Srinagar for Rs 61 lakh. It is also one of the two successful bidders in Chandigarh, for which it bid Rs 15 crore.

The other successful bidder in Chandigarh was the Bhaskar group, with a Rs 10.5 crore bid. B A G has bagged Karnal (Rs 71 lakh), Hissar (Rs 61 lakh), Patiala (Rs 71 lakh) and Shimla (Rs 81 lakh). The Jagran group has bagged Agra, Bareilly, Hissar, Jalandhar and Gorakhpur.

The government had put in minimum net worth criteria for companies interested bidding for FM licences. The net worth for D category cities was Rs 5 million, C category cities Rs 10 million and B category cities Rs 20 million.