NEW DELHI, May 12: The Ministry for Information and Broadcasting has almost finalised the draft which will allow private broadcasters to operate FM frequencies. In a move that is likely to go down well with newspaper houses, the Ministry will have a system of transparent bids for eight to ten frequencies in all the major cities. There will also be a cap on the number of frequencies broadcasters will be allowed.This follows a series of meetings that Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan has had with broadcasters. The privatisation of FM was put on hold after All India Radio started operating the channel on its own on June 26 last year, following a prolonged legal battle.Private broadcasters have been arguing for an expansion of the FM radio market in India for a long time. Though Times FM had written to the Director-General of All India Radio in June last year, asking him to invite bids for as many as 15 FM channels in each metro, the sticking point was that the Government was expected toput up all the infrastructure, including studios and transmission towers. But the Ministry has made it very clear to private operators that the infrastructure costs will be theirs to pay - broadcasters can, if they so wish, share the same infrastructure and save on costs.FM was opened up to private broadcasters in 1993, but only for seven hours prime time, plus two hours non-prime time, for one year only. The broadcasters renewed it annually without AIR inviting fresh bids or even increasing the broadcast fees. When in 1995 and 1996, fresh bids were invited for new FM slots, those too were cancelled.The broadcasters whom the Ministry has been talking to include Times FM, Radio Midday and Living Media.
