Govt in talks to permit private FM radio channels to broadcast news bulletins: Minister L Murugan

New Delhi: The government is holding 'detailed conversations' with various stakeholders to allow private FM radio channels to broadcast news bulletins in addition to the service rendered by All India Radio, said Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, L Murugan.

Murugan accompanied by senior officials from the Ministry, addressed a meeting on FM Radio Auction, an outreach program organised by the Consultative Committee City Chambers of Commerce and Industry, comprising six industry bodies based out of Chennai.

Responding to a question on allowing private FM channels to broadcast news, he said, "Right now detailed conversations are going on around this (to allow private FM channels to run news bulletins). " "We will take a call after analysing all the inputs received from various stakeholders, including from the industry." 

Accompanied by the Ministry's Joint Secretary Sanjiv Shankar, Murugan said the Outreach Programme in Chennai was held to invite companies and interested parties to take part in the auction to 730 private FM radio channels, which would be rolled out in 234 cities across India in various price bands.

"We are in Chennai today in connection with the auction for private FM radio. We have already visited Pune and Mumbai and now, we are in Chennai and will be travelling to other cities interacting with industry chambers and interested parties in the radio industry seeking their support for this auction," Shankar said.

The Ministry has launched the Notice Inviting Applications (NIAs) for those interested in operating a private FM radio channel for which the application fee has been fixed at Rs 50,000.

As many as 11 towns and cities have been selected in Tamil Nadu, with each city receiving three licenses to operate the private FM radio channels. This is aimed at benefiting a larger audience as 'radio continues to be a powerful medium of mass outreach,' he said.

"Some of the cities are Coonoor, Tiruvannamlai, Thanjavur, Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu. The details are available in the NIAs. The pre-bid meeting is expected to be held on October 28 at Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi, and the auction process is expected to begin around 10 January 2025," he added.