FM radio e-auction: Day fourth, 80 channels in 55 cities

At the close of the fourth day of bidding in the e-auctions for first batch of channels for FM Radio Phase III expansion, 80 channels in 55 cities became provisionally winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of around Rs 643 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 391 crore.
In a statement released here, the Information and Broadcasting ministry which is conducting the auctions said that with this, the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed Rs 550.18 crore, which is the total reserve price of 135 channels that comprise the first batch.
E-Auction of the first batch of private FM Radio Phase III Channels re-commenced today at 09.30 AM and during the day, four rounds of bidding took place, the ministry said.

Till now, 16 rounds of bidding are over. The first batch auction for 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities of Phase II began on July 27.
The ministry also said that the Auction Activity Requirement of 80 per cent set at the beginning of the auction continued to remain the same on the fourth day.
Bidding will re-commence tomorrow at 09.30 AM, it added.