Govt considering a more liberal policy for FM radio

Government today said it is considering putting in place a more liberal FM radio policy which allows private radio stations to air news, sourcing information from the All India Radio news bulletins.

Secretary in the Information and Broadcasting ministry, Raghu Menon said that the government will start rolling out the third phase of the FM radio stations soon and will be also looking at allowing private radio stations to air news, sourcing content from AIR news bulletins.

"More licences would be given out in the third phase and apart from allowing private radio stations to air news sourced from AIR bulletins, they could also be permitted to give weather reports and employment-related data in their bulletins," Menon said, while addressing the first conference of the Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI) here.

He hinted that the transition to a new liberal regime would be gradual, as there is no regulatory authority for radio. "The time period for which licences would be given to new permission seekers in the third phase, is being worked out," the official said.

Earlier this week, Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni had said the government is preparing a cabinet note wherein it is planning to allow private radio stations to air news capsules using data from All India Radio news bulletins along with other add-ons.