New Delhi: Private FM radio is set to be rolled out to 234 uncovered new towns following a nod to this move by the Union Cabinet today. The move is likely to boost local content in the mother tongue and create new employment opportunities.
The new areas covered include many aspirational, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas as well as the border areas. Setting up private FM radio in these areas will further strengthen Government outreach in these areas.
The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for the conduct of the 3rd batch of ascending e-auctions for 730 channels in 234 new cities with an estimated reserve price of Rs.784.87 crore under the private FM radio Phase III Policy.
The Cabinet also approved the proposal to charge the Annual License Fee (ALF) of the FM channel as 4% of Gross Revenue excluding Goods and Services Tax (GST). This will apply to 234 new towns.
A Cabinet note said the private FM radio rollout in 234 new towns will fulfil the unmet demand for FM radio in those towns, still uncovered by private FM radio broadcasting and bring new/local content in the mother tongue. “It will lead to the creation of new employment opportunities, boost local dialect and culture and ‘vocal for local’ initiatives,” the Cabinet note stressed.
The State-wise list of the towns and the number of private FM channels approved for fresh auctions is as follows:
| List of 234 New Cities/ Towns having 730 Channels | ||
| S. No. | Name of City / Town | Channels Available |
| Andaman & Nicobar | ||
| 1 | Port Blair | 3 |
| Andhra Pradesh | ||
| 1 | Adoni | 3 |
| 2 | Anantapuram | 3 |
| 3 | Bheemavaram | 3 |
| 4 | Chilakaluripet | 3 |
| 5 | Chirala | 3 |
| 6 | Chittoor | 3 |
| 7 | Cuddapah | 3 |
| 8 | Dharmavaram | 3 |
| 9 | Eluru | 3 |
| 10 | Guntakal | 3 |
| 11 | Hindupur | 3 |
| 12 | Kakinada | 4 |
| 13 | Kurnool | 4 |
| 14 | Machilipatnam | 3 |
| 15 | Madanapalle | 3 |
| 16 | Nandyal | 3 |
| 17 | Narasaraopet | 3 |
| 18 | Ongole | 3 |
| 19 | Proddatur | 3 |
| 20 | Srikakulam | 3 |
| 21 | Tadpatri | 3 |
| 22 | Vizianagaram | 3 |
| Assam | ||
| 1 | Dibrugarh | 3 |
| 2 | Jorhat | 3 |
| 3 | Nagaon (Nowgang) | 3 |
| 4 | Silchar | 3 |
| 5 | Tezpur | 3 |
| 6 | Tinsukia | 3 |
| Bihar | ||
| 1 | Arrah | 3 |
| 2 | Aurangabad | 3 |
| 3 | Bagaha | 3 |
| 4 | Begusarai | 3 |
| 5 | Bettiah | 3 |
| 6 | Bhagalpur | 4 |
| 7 | Bihar Sharif | 3 |
| 8 | Chhapra | 3 |
| 9 | Darbhanga | 3 |
| 10 | Gaya | 4 |
| 11 | Kishanganj | 3 |
| 12 | Motihari | 3 |
| 13 | Munger | 3 |
| 14 | Purnia | 4 |
| 15 | Saharsa | 3 |
| 16 | Sasaram | 3 |
| 17 | Sitamarhi | 3 |
| 18 | Siwan | 3 |
| Chhattisgarh | ||
| 1 | Ambikapur | 3 |
| 2 | Jagdalpur | 3 |
| 3 | Korba | 3 |
| Daman & Diu | ||
| 1 | Daman | 3 |
| Gujarat | ||
| 1 | Amreli | 3 |
| 2 | Bhuj | 3 |
| 3 | Botad | 3 |
| 4 | Dahod | 3 |
| 5 | Gandhidham | 3 |
| 6 | Jetpur Navagadh | 3 |
| 7 | Patan | 3 |
| 8 | Surendranagar Dudhrej | 3 |
| Haryana | ||
| 1 | Ambala | 3 |
| 2 | Bhiwani | 3 |
| 3 | Jind | 3 |
| 4 | Kaithal | 3 |
| 5 | Panipat | 3 |
| 6 | Rewari | 3 |
| 7 | Rohtak | 3 |
| 8 | Sirsa | 3 |
| 9 | Thanesar | 3 |
| J&K | ||
| 1 | Anantnag | 3 |
| Jharkhand | ||
| 1 | Bokaro Steel City | 3 |
| 2 | Deoghar | 3 |
| 3 | Dhanbad | 4 |
| 4 | Giridih | 3 |
| 5 | Hazaribag | 3 |
| 6 | Medninagar (Daltonganj) | 3 |
| Karnataka | ||
| 1 | Bagalkot | 3 |
| 2 | Belgaum | 4 |
| 3 | Bellary | 4 |
| 4 | Bidar | 3 |
| 5 | Bijapur | 4 |
| 6 | Chikmagalur | 3 |
| 7 | Chitradurga | 3 |
| 8 | Davangere | 4 |
| 9 | Gadag Betigeri | 3 |
| 10 | Hassan | 3 |
| 11 | Hospet | 3 |
| 12 | Kolar | 3 |
| 13 | Raichur | 3 |
| 14 | Shimoga | 4 |
| 15 | Tumkur | 3 |
| 16 | Udupi | 3 |
| Kerala | ||
| 1 | Kanhangad (Kasaragod) | 3 |
| 2 | Palakkad | 3 |
| Lakshadweep | ||
| 1 | Kavaratti | 3 |
| Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 1 | Betul | 3 |
| 2 | Burhanpur | 3 |
| 3 | Chhatarpur | 3 |
| 4 | Chhindwara | 3 |
| 5 | Damoh | 3 |
| 6 | Guna | 3 |
| 7 | Itarsi | 3 |
| 8 | Khandwa | 3 |
| 9 | Khargone | 3 |
| 10 | Mandsaur | 3 |
| 11 | Murwara (Katni) | 3 |
| 12 | Neemuch | 3 |
| 13 | Ratlam | 3 |
| 14 | Rewa | 3 |
| 15 | Sagar | 4 |
| 16 | Satna | 3 |
| 17 | Seoni | 3 |
| 18 | Shivpuri | 3 |
| 19 | Singrauli | 3 |
| 20 | Vidisha | 3 |
| Maharashtra | ||
| 1 | Achalpur | 3 |
| 2 | Barshi | 3 |
| 3 | Chandrapur | 4 |
| 4 | Gondiya | 3 |
| 5 | Latur | 4 |
| 6 | Malegaon | 4 |
| 7 | Nandurbar | 3 |
| 8 | Osmanabad | 3 |
| 9 | Udgir | 3 |
| 10 | Wardha | 3 |
| 11 | Yavatmal | 3 |
| Manipur | ||
| 1 | Imphal | 4 |
| Meghalaya | ||
| 1 | Jowai | 3 |
| Mizoram | ||
| 1 | Lunglei | 3 |
| Nagaland | ||
| 1 | Dimapur | 3 |
| 2 | Kohima | 3 |
| 3 | Mokukchung | 3 |
| Odisha | ||
| 1 | Baleshwar | 3 |
| 2 | Baripada | 3 |
| 3 | Berhampur | 4 |
| 4 | Bhadrak | 3 |
| 5 | Puri | 3 |
| 6 | Sambalpur | 3 |
| Punjab | ||
| 1 | Abohar | 3 |
| 2 | Barnala | 3 |
| 3 | Bathinda | 3 |
| 4 | Firozpur | 3 |
| 5 | Hoshiarpur | 3 |
| 6 | Ludhiana | 4 |
| 7 | Moga | 3 |
| 8 | Muktsar | 3 |
| 9 | Pathankot | 3 |
| Rajasthan | ||
| 1 | Alwar | 4 |
| 2 | Banswara | 3 |
| 3 | Beawar | 3 |
| 4 | Bharatpur | 3 |
| 5 | Bhilwara | 4 |
| 6 | Chittaurgarh | 3 |
| 7 | Churu | 3 |
| 8 | Dhaulpur | 3 |
| 9 | Ganganagar | 3 |
| 10 | Hanumangarh | 3 |
| 11 | Hindaun | 3 |
| 12 | Jhunjhunu | 3 |
| 13 | Makrana | 3 |
| 14 | Nagaur | 3 |
| 15 | Pali | 3 |
| 16 | Sawai Madhopur | 3 |
| 17 | Sikar | 3 |
| 18 | Sujangarh | 3 |
| 19 | Tonk | 3 |
| Tamil Nadu | ||
| 1 | Coonoor | 3 |
| 2 | Dindigul | 3 |
| 3 | Karaikudi | 3 |
| 4 | Karur | 3 |
| 5 | Nagarcoil / Kanyakumari | 3 |
| 6 | Neyveli | 3 |
| 7 | Pudukkottai | 3 |
| 8 | Rajapalayam | 3 |
| 9 | Thanjavur | 3 |
| 10 | Tiruvannamalai | 3 |
| 11 | Vaniyambadi | 3 |
| Telangana | ||
| 1 | Adilabad | 3 |
| 2 | Karimnagar | 3 |
| 3 | Khammam | 3 |
| 4 | Kothagudem | 3 |
| 5 | Mahbubnagar | 3 |
| 6 | Mancherial | 3 |
| 7 | Nalgonda | 3 |
| 8 | Nizamabad | 4 |
| 9 | Ramagundam | 3 |
| 10 | Suryapet | 3 |
| Tripura | ||
| 1 | Belonia | 3 |
| Uttar Pradesh | ||
| 1 | Akbarpur | 3 |
| 2 | Azamgarh | 3 |
| 3 | Badaun | 3 |
| 4 | Bahraich | 3 |
| 5 | Ballia | 3 |
| 6 | Banda | 3 |
| 7 | Basti | 3 |
| 8 | Deoria | 3 |
| 9 | Etah | 3 |
| 10 | Etawah | 3 |
| 11 | Faizabad / Ayodhya | 3 |
| 12 | Farrukhabad cum Fatehgarh | 3 |
| 13 | Fatehpur | 3 |
| 14 | Ghazipur | 3 |
| 15 | Gonda | 3 |
| 16 | Hardoi | 3 |
| 17 | Jaunpur | 3 |
| 18 | Lakhimpur | 3 |
| 19 | Lalitpur | 3 |
| 20 | Mainpuri | 3 |
| 21 | Mathura | 3 |
| 22 | Maunath Bhanjan (Distt. Mau) | 3 |
| 23 | Mirzapur cum Vindhyachal | 3 |
| 24 | Moradabad | 4 |
| 25 | Muzaffarnagar | 4 |
| 26 | Orai | 3 |
| 27 | Raebareli | 3 |
| 28 | Saharanpur | 4 |
| 29 | Shahjahanpur | 4 |
| 30 | Shikohabad | 3 |
| 31 | Sitapur | 3 |
| 32 | Sultanpur | 3 |
| Uttarakhand | ||
| 1 | Haldwani cum Kathgodam | 3 |
| 2 | Haridwar | 3 |
| West Bengal | ||
| 1 | Alipurduar | 3 |
| 2 | Baharampur | 4 |
| 3 | Balurghat | 3 |
| 4 | Bangaon | 3 |
| 5 | Bankura | 3 |
| 6 | Barddhaman | 4 |
| 7 | Darjiling | 3 |
| 8 | Dhulian | 3 |
| 9 | English Bazar (Maldah) | 4 |
| 10 | Kharagpur | 3 |
| 11 | Krishnanagar | 3 |
| 12 | Puruliya | 3 |
| 13 | Raiganj | 3 |
| 234 | Total | 730 |
– global bihari bureau
