37 TV channels, 175 radio stations permitted in 2007

17 August 2007

Thirty-one private satellite TV channels, 11 All India Radio stations and164 private FM radio stations have been permitted till date, minister of information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs P R Dasmunsi said in written reply to two questions in Lok Sabha.

The 175 radio stations are expected to go on air by the end of the year.

Of these, 27 are in Maharashtra, 17 in Kerala, 14 in Tamil Nadu, 12 in Rajasthan, 10 each in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, 9 each in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, 8 in Karnataka and West Bengal, 7 each in Punjab and Jharkhand, 6 in Chattisgarh, three each in Himachal Pradesh, Sikkam and Pondicherry, two each in Orissa, Meghalaya and Assam and one each in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura, Bihar and Daman & Diu.

A new policy of expansion of FM broadcasting through private operators was notified in July, 2005. Subsequently, 337 channels including 217 channels of -C and -D cities were put on bid. Out of these 217 channels, agreements were signed with successful bidders for 139 channels in 57 cities. For the remaining 78 vacant channels of -C and -D, pre-qualification bids have been invited from private companies through tender notification dated 8.6.2007.

In 2006, 37 private satellite TV channels were permitted to be uplinked from India, up from 25 in 2005. As the receipt of applications under the uplinking guidelines is an on-going process, no record is kept in the ministry of I&B of incomplete applications, which are closed or returned.