FM radio auction: Trai sets reserve prices at Rs25 lakh to Rs9.89 cr

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended reserve prices ranging from Rs25 lakh to Rs9.89 crore for Phase III auctions of new FM radio channels in 264 cities.

The regulator, however, has proposed a lower floor of Rs5 lakh for the 11 border cities and a city in Lakshwadeep.

The prices are fixed on the basis of listenership and population of each city, per capita gross state domestic product and per capita gross revenue earned by the existing FM radio channels.

Of the 264 cities, 253 cities have a population of more than one lakh and the centre has proposed to put up 798 FM radio channels for auction in these cities.

''The reserve price for FM radio chancels for each of the 253 new cities has been fixed at 80 per cent of the valuation for each city,'' the regulator said.

The remaining 11 cities have a population of less than one lakh where 33 FM radio channels are being put up for auction. TRAI has recommended a base price of Rs5 lakh for these 11 border cities.

As per Trai recommendations, the reserve price for Ludhiana, Punjab, will be Rs9.89 crore, while for Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh it has been fixed at Rs5.76 crore for Dhanbad, Jharkhand Rs5.80 crore and for cities such as Vellore and Salem in Tamil Nadu, it has been pegged at Rs4.23 crore.

For Arrah in Bihar the reserve price has been fixed at Rs39 lakh while for Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir it has been set at Rs25 lakh.

A total of 831 FM radio channels will be auctioned through an ascending e-auction process starting today.

Currently there are 243 FM radio channels operating in 86 cities across the country.

The recommended prices are based on the population of these cities.