FM Radio tops the agenda of Ministry of I&B: CII Event

The Government is committed to expansion of FM radio in far flung areas of the country and the transparent e-auction process of Phase III FM radio licensing is on track.

Addressing industry leaders at the CEOs Roundtable on Radio organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Uday Kumar Varma, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, made it clear that radio sector is top in the radar of I&B Ministry.

"We are very positive on the growth of radio sector and expansion of FM radio in border areas and far flung areas across the country. We will relentlessly pursue the wonderful opportunity of radio as a powerful dissemination mechanism of communication," said Varma.

The auction process for FM Phase III in radio is aimed at adding another 839 stations in over 290 towns and cities and is likely to commence by the end of the current financial year. On this occasion, CII-Ernst & Young report on 'FM Radio in India: Poised for growth' was released by Varma.

Varma asked radio industry to clearly specify incentives that would benefit the sector FM Phase III licensing. "Our Ministry is open to all suggestions and we would like to get  clear signals from the industry."

Amit Khanna, Chairman CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment and Chairman Reliance Entertainment said the industry should work towards innovation and encourage more diversity of programmes in FM radio stations.

Khanna also made a plea to the I&B Ministry to expedite the digitizing All India Radio’s huge archives of classical music heritage and  folk music heritage.

He maintained that as we expand FM radio stations there is a dearth of trained professionals and human resource talent in this sector.

Prashant Panday, CEO Radio Mirchi Radio said global cities like Colombo and Dubai has more than 30 FM stations and major Indian cities have just seven or eight FM stations. "We need to grow the channels. We have not allowed the medium to grow," he lamented.

Ms Anuradha Prasad, President AROI and CMD B A G Networks called for more liberal FM radio policy and steps to make the sector vibrant.

Innovation, FM radio as a powerful developmental communication tool, Internet radio dominated discussions at the CII CEOs Roundtable on Radio. Over 100 executives from FM radio stations across the country participated in the deliberations.