| Reddy says bids for 300 stations to be invited soon.
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| Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Jaipal Reddy said here today the government might agree to a revenue-share model for the private radio industry.
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| “The government is committed to strengthening the scope for expansion of radio in the private sector and we may accept the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in favour of a revenue-share model,” he said, while delivering the inaugural address on the occasion of FRAMES 2005 in Mumbai. Reddy said the government had finalised a liberal policy inviting fresh bidding to establish 300 FM stations in the country.
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| At present, only 21 of the 108 FM frequencies put up for bidding are operational. The private FM radio industry suffered a collective loss of Rs 122 crore in 2003-04. The minister also announced plans to drive the growth of community radio stations in the country.
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| He said the government was framing simple guidelines that would pave the way for the setting up of community radio stations.
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| Reddy added that in the next three years, India was likely to see the establishment of more than 4,000 such community radio stations in the country.
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| This comes in the wake of a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on the Indian radio industry, which said the industry was expected to triple in size by 2009 to about Rs 650 crore from its current Rs 240 crores.
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| Also, radio, with its low advertisement rates and large audience reach, will find takers with big advertisers. |
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