Govt eyes Rs1,500 crore revenue from Phase III FM radio auction

The government today said it expects to garner Rs1,500 crore in revenue from the auction of FM Radio Phase III licence, for providing services in 227 cities, in addition to 86 cities covered currently.

"Total revenue expectation from three phases of (Phase III) FM radio auction is Rs1,500 crore. They (Finance Ministry) have given estimates for first phase, which is Rs500 crore," Information and Broadcasting Secretary Uday Kumar Verma told reporters on the sidelines of the CASBAA India Forum 2012.

"The auction will be conducted in phases. We will complete first phase by the end of this year," Verma said.

The Phase I and Phase II auctions led to total revenue accrual of about Rs1,733 crore up to May 31, 2011 by way of one time entry fee, migration fee and annual fee among others.

The Phase-III license would extend FM radio services to about 227 new cities, in addition to the present 86 cities,and would result in coverage of all cities with a population of one lakh and above through private FM channels.

In its budget proposals for 2012-13, the government said last week that it had estimated to raise non-tax revenue of Rs1,600 crore from auction of FM phase III licence, but this auction have not materialsed so far in this financial year, ending March 31, 2012.