India’s Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur said that the Government planning the auction of 808 channels in 284 cities under the third batch of e-auction soon.

He was speaking at the 8th and 9th National Community Radio Awards, during the Inaugural Session of the two-day Regional Community Radio Sammelan (North) in New Delhi.

Commenting on the expansion of reach of radio in India, the Minister said that today 80 percent of geographical area of the country and over 90 percent of population is covered by radio.

India presently has 388 private FM radio stations in 284 cities across the country.

On Community Radio Stations (CRS), Thakur said that that the Government has made earnest efforts to reduce the time taken to establish such stations. While earlier acquiring a license took around four years, today it can be acquired within six months.

Presently, there are a total of 449 Community Radio Stations in the country, out of which 70 percent are in the rural areas. Around 100 odd organizations have been permitted for establishment of CRS.

Thakur said the Community Radio stations provide their service despite several challenges including human resource shortage, financial strains and lack of external support and for this spirit of nation service they ought to be commended. While the awards encourage the stations, the Minister said, they also recognise the importance of Community Radio in education, awareness generation and problem solving in the remotest corners of India.