Government of India, vide announcement made in December, 2002 has opened up vistas for educational institutions / organizations to have their own small power FM Radio Stations. As a step forward in this direction, Government has invited applications for grant of licenses to community based organizations including civil society and voluntary organizations, state agriculture universities, ICAR institutions, krishi vigyan kendras, registered societies, autonomous bodies and public trusts registered under societies act and well established educational institutions/organizations including Universities, Institutes of Technology / Management and Residential Schools for setting up Community Radio Stations. The idea behind the scheme is to enable these organizations to provide radio coverage within the area of operation and to serve the cause of the community by involving members of the community. These radio stations will go a long way in reaching out to the community with program content that shall be interested to the local audience. The local community would thus get largely benefited and find itself more involved in the happenings within the campus in the areas of education, health, sports, entertainment, university debates, seminars, workshops, cultural events, etc.
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Prospective bidders for a channel shall be required to deposit Earnest Money , along with the application for pre-qualification, in the form of a Bank Guarantee from a Scheduled Bank (as per the format specified by the Ministry) which shall be 25% of the reserve price of that city per channel. The requirement of EMD may vary depending on progress of bids. Final details with regard to requirement of EMD and the determination of eligibility of a bidder on its basis shall be specified in the Information Memorandum and NIA to be issued separately. The applicant shall pay a non-refundable application processing fee of Rs. 25,000/- payable to Pay and Accounts, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi, through a demand draft.
The Reserve Price for new channels in existing FM Phase-II cities shall be the Highest bid price received for that city in Phase-II. In cities which are being taken up afresh, the reserve price shall be the Highest Bid price received during FM Phase-II for that category of cities in that region. In case the benchmark from Phase-II for a particular region is not available, then the lowest of the Highest bid received in other regions for that category of cities may be taken as the reserve price. For new cities in border areas with a population less than One lakh the reserve price shall be Rs five lakh. 5
Successful Bidders shall deposit 25% of the Successful Bid Amount as Bid Deposit within 5 calendar days of the close of the Auction, failing which the Earnest Money Deposit shall stand forfeited. Successful Bidders shall deposit the balance amount (Successful Bid Amount less Bid Deposit) within 15 calendar days of the close of the Auction, failing which its Earnest Money Deposit and its Bid Deposit shall stand forfeited.
“SACFA” shall mean the “Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocation” of the Wireless Planning & Co-ordination wing of Ministry of Communications &IT, Government of India. “Frequency Allocation” shall mean the specific Radio Frequency (RF) carrier with associated technical parameters such as RF power, bandwidth etc to the particular FM channel as assigned by the Wireless Planning & Coordination wing of Department of Telecommunication, Ministry of Communications &IT, Government of India.
In the event of the failure of any LOI holder to comply with the eligibility conditions for the Grant of Permission Agreement or failing to sign the Grant of Permission Agreement within the prescribed period, the full deposit of the bid amount shall be forfeited without further notice, and Letter of Intent and the allocation of frequency, if any, shall stand cancelled.