FM e-auction: 97 channels become provisional winners

At the close of 30th day of bidding in the e-auctions for private FM Radio channels under the Phase III expansion, 97 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of about Rs 1,156.8 crore.In a statement released, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said that the aggregate reserve price of these channels was about Rs 459.8 crore.The summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the corresponding 97 channels by Rs 696.9 crore or 151.5 percent, the ministry said."Overall, cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch i.e Rs 550.18 crore by Rs 606.6 crore or 110.2 percent," it added.The Auction for the first batch comprising 135 FM Channels in 69 existing cities of Phase II began on 27th July 2015. The channel allocation stage will continue till bids are received for any of the 135 channels.