Saturday, March 09, 2013

Govt to conduct Phase III FM radio auction in 2013: I&B Ministry

A high-powered ministerial panel has cleared the way for Information and Broadcasting Ministry to conduct auction of FM radio licences in Phase III for 839 channels, which will be completed this year.

"EGoM, on Wednesday, cleared the proposal sent by I&B ministry for some changes in the RFP (Request for Proposal) for auction of FM radio in phase III and we will issue auction guidelines soon," I&B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma told reporters here on the sidelines of CASBAA India Forum 2013.
An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on spectrum headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram had met yesterday on issues related to spectrum auction among other things.
"We should be able to complete the auction of all the 839 radio stations this year," Mr Varma said.
The clearance will help in setting up of 839 new radio stations in the country and will help the government garner revenues to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore, he added. 
More on...http://www.thehindu.com