The much-delayed auctions of the third phase of private FM licensing in India are likely to be further delayed.

India’s Business Standard reports that the former Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, had assured broadcasters that they would take place in February 2015, but there is no confirmation on the date.

The new minister, Arun Jaitley, has said that the government is keen to hold the auctions before March 31 so the revenue can be booked in the current financial year.

The radio industry is concerned as the current licenses of private radio players, which were issued in Phase II of licensing, are due to expire on March 31.

The third phase of the radio auctions will bring private FM to 839 new stations across 294 cities in the country and also has provisions to migrate the current licenses.

But with no clarity on the auctions, the players are now urging the ministry to extend the current licenses by a year so they can continue functioning normally.

Apurva Purohit, CEO of the 20-station network Radio City 91.1 FM which had plans for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), told Business Standard: “We will file for an IPO once the bidding is done. Since the bidding is delayed, the filing has also been delayed.”