Cabinet approves rolling out private FM radio for 234 uncovered new cities including 16 for Karnataka

New Delhi: Sixteen towns and cities in Karnataka, including Bagalkot, Bellary and Hassan, will soon have private FM radio channels with the Union Cabinet on Wednesday clearing a proposal for conducting e-auctions for 730 FM radio channels in 234 locations.

Till now, there has been no FM channels in these cities and towns. This is the third batch of ascending e-auctions with estimated reserve price of Rs 784.87 crore under Private FM Radio Phase Ill Policy.

In Karnataka, the government has chosen auctions for Bagalkot (3 FM channels), Belgaum (4), Bellary (4), Bidar (3), Bijapur (4), Chikmagalur (3), Chitradurga (3), Davangere (4), Gadag Betigeri (3), Hassan (3), Hospet (3), Kolar (3), Raichur (3), Shimoga (4), Tumkur (3) and Udupi (3).

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the decision will boost local content in mother tongue and create new employment opportunities like radio jockeys and programme production. The areas covered include many aspirational, naxal-infested affected and border areas, which will further strengthen government outreach in these areas.

"The Private FM Radio rollout in 234 new cities and towns will fulfil the unmet demand for FM radio in these locations, which still remain uncovered by Private FM radio broadcasting and bring new and local content in mother tongue. It will lead to creation of new employment opportunities, boost to local dialect and culture and ‘vocal for local’ initiatives," it said.

The Cabinet also approved the proposal to charge Annual License Fee (ALF) of FM channels as 4 per cent of Gross Revenue excluding Goods and Services Tax (GST). This will be applicable for 234 new cities and towns.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on ‘X’, the decision would “enhance access to diverse and local content, thus encouraging creativity and encouraging local languages as well as cultures”.

Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of channels for 32 cities, followed by Andhra Pradesh (22 cities and towns), Madhya Pradesh (20), Rajasthan (19) and Bihar (18). In Jammu and Kashmir, three channels have been allocated for Anantnag.

In the northeast, 19 channels have been allocated in four states. Manipur's Imphal will have four FM channels while Meghalaya's Jowai and Mizoram's Lunglei have been given three each.

Three cities in Nagaland -- Kohima, Dimapur and Mokukchung -- will have three FM channels each.