The new Indian government presented its first budget last week but there was no direct mention of the radio industry, ahead of the roll-out of Phase III of private FM licensing.

Industry leaders had expected the new leadership to formerly accept the recommendations of the media regulator The Telecom & Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for Phase III, which included a proposed increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the private radio sector.

Radio City’s President and COO Ashit Kukian said: “We would have liked the government to take steps to increase the FDI limit to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent. It would have opened the doors for fresh investment giving that much required boost to the radio industry.”

BIG FM’s parent company, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited’s CEO Tarun Katial told Exchange4Media: “With not much for the media and entertainment industry in the budget, there would be anticipation of a further announcement in line with the policy initiatives, especially for the radio sector.”

RED FM COO Nisha Narayanan commented: “There is nothing in this budget for the radio industry except for allocating $17 million (Rs 1 billion) towards community radio.”

Prashant Panday, CEO and MD of Entertainment Network India Limited, which runs Radio Mirchi, hoped that the budget proposals might spur economic growth which “leads to a revival in advertising spends.”