JK MONITOR - Cabinet approves rolling out Private FM Radio to 234 uncovered new cities / towns

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October 2026

Details: Written by: JK Monitor News Network; Category: Bridging the World; Published: 28 August 2024

Move likely to boost local content in mother tongue and create new employment opportunitiesNew areas covered include many Aspirational, LWE affected and border areas

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal for conduct of 3rd batch of ascending e-auctions for 730 channels in 234 new cities with estimated reserve price of Rs.784.87 crore under Private FM Radio Phase Ill Policy.

State-wise list of the cities / towns and the number of Private FM channels approved for fresh auctions is enclosed as Annexure.

The Cabinet also approved the proposal to charge Annual License Fee (ALF) of FM channel as 4% of Gross Revenue excluding Goods and Services Tax (GST). This will be applicable for 234 new cities / towns.

The Private FM Radio rollout in 234 new cities / towns will fulfil the unmet demand for FM radio in these cities / towns, which still remain uncovered by Private FM radio broadcasting and bring new / local content in mother tongue.

It will lead to creation of new employment opportunities, boost to local dialect and culture and ‘vocal for local’ initiatives.

Many of the approved cities / towns are in Aspirational districts and LWE affected areas. Setting up of Private FM Radio in these areas will further strengthen Government outreach in these areas.

Annexure

List of 234 New Cities/ Towns having 730 Channels
S. No.	Name of City / Town	Channels Available
Andaman & Nicobar
1	Port Blair	3
Andhra Pradesh
1	Adoni	3
2	Anantapuram	3
3	Bheemavaram	3
4	Chilakaluripet	3
5	Chirala	3
6	Chittoor	3
7	Cuddapah	3
8	Dharmavaram	3
9	Eluru	3
10	Guntakal	3
11	Hindupur	3
12	Kakinada	4
13	Kurnool	4
14	Machilipatnam	3
15	Madanapalle	3
16	Nandyal	3
17	Narasaraopet	3
18	Ongole	3
19	Proddatur	3
20	Srikakulam	3
21	Tadpatri	3
22	Vizianagaram	3
Assam
1	Dibrugarh	3
2	Jorhat	3
3	Nagaon (Nowgang)	3
4	Silchar	3
5	Tezpur	3
6	Tinsukia	3
Bihar
1	Arrah	3
2	Aurangabad	3
3	Bagaha	3
4	Begusarai	3
5	Bettiah	3
6	Bhagalpur	4
7	Bihar Sharif	3
8	Chhapra	3
9	Darbhanga	3
10	Gaya	4
11	Kishanganj	3
12	Motihari	3
13	Munger	3
14	Purnia	4
15	Saharsa	3
16	Sasaram	3
17	Sitamarhi	3
18	Siwan	3
Chhattisgarh
1	Ambikapur	3
2	Jagdalpur	3
3	Korba	3
Daman & Diu
1	Daman	3
Gujarat
1	Amreli	3
2	Bhuj	3
3	Botad	3
4	Dahod	3
5	Gandhidham	3
6	Jetpur Navagadh	3
7	Patan	3
8	Surendranagar Dudhrej	3
Haryana
1	Ambala	3
2	Bhiwani	3
3	Jind	3
4	Kaithal	3
5	Panipat	3
6	Rewari	3
7	Rohtak	3
8	Sirsa	3
9	Thanesar	3
J&K
1	Anantnag	3
Jharkhand
1	Bokaro Steel City	3
2	Deoghar	3
3	Dhanbad	4
4	Giridih	3
5	Hazaribag	3
6	Medninagar (Daltonganj)	3
Karnataka
1	Bagalkot	3
2	Belgaum	4
3	Bellary	4
4	Bidar	3
5	Bijapur	4
6	Chikmagalur	3
7	Chitradurga	3
8	Davangere	4
9	Gadag Betigeri	3
10	Hassan	3
11	Hospet	3
12	Kolar	3
13	Raichur	3
14	Shimoga	4
15	Tumkur	3
16	Udupi	3
Kerala
1	Kanhangad (Kasaragod)	3
2	Palakkad	3
Lakshadweep
1	Kavaratti	3
Madhya Pradesh
1	Betul	3
2	Burhanpur	3
3	Chhatarpur	3
4	Chhindwara	3
5	Damoh	3
6	Guna	3
7	Itarsi	3
8	Khandwa	3
9	Khargone	3
10	Mandsaur	3
11	Murwara (Katni)	3
12	Neemuch	3
13	Ratlam	3
14	Rewa	3
15	Sagar	4
16	Satna	3
17	Seoni	3
18	Shivpuri	3
19	Singrauli	3
20	Vidisha	3
Maharashtra
1	Achalpur	3
2	Barshi	3
3	Chandrapur	4
4	Gondiya	3
5	Latur	4
6	Malegaon	4
7	Nandurbar	3
8	Osmanabad	3
9	Udgir	3
10	Wardha	3
11	Yavatmal	3
Manipur
1	Imphal	4
Meghalaya
1	Jowai	3
Mizoram
1	Lunglei	3
Nagaland
1	Dimapur	3
2	Kohima	3
3	Mokukchung	3
Odisha
1	Baleshwar	3
2	Baripada	3
3	Berhampur	4
4	Bhadrak	3
5	Puri	3
6	Sambalpur	3
Punjab
1	Abohar	3
2	Barnala	3
3	Bathinda	3
4	Firozpur	3
5	Hoshiarpur	3
6	Ludhiana	4
7	Moga	3
8	Muktsar	3
9	Pathankot	3
Rajasthan
1	Alwar	4
2	Banswara	3
3	Beawar	3
4	Bharatpur	3
5	Bhilwara	4
6	Chittaurgarh	3
7	Churu	3
8	Dhaulpur	3
9	Ganganagar	3
10	Hanumangarh	3
11	Hindaun	3
12	Jhunjhunu	3
13	Makrana	3
14	Nagaur	3
15	Pali	3
16	Sawai Madhopur	3
17	Sikar	3
18	Sujangarh	3
19	Tonk	3
Tamil Nadu
1	Coonoor	3
2	Dindigul	3
3	Karaikudi	3
4	Karur	3
5	Nagarcoil / Kanyakumari	3
6	Neyveli	3
7	Pudukkottai	3
8	Rajapalayam	3
9	Thanjavur	3
10	Tiruvannamalai	3
11	Vaniyambadi	3
Telangana
1	Adilabad	3
2	Karimnagar	3
3	Khammam	3
4	Kothagudem	3
5	Mahbubnagar	3
6	Mancherial	3
7	Nalgonda	3
8	Nizamabad	4
9	Ramagundam	3
10	Suryapet	3
Tripura
1	Belonia	3
Uttar Pradesh
1	Akbarpur	3
2	Azamgarh	3
3	Badaun	3
4	Bahraich	3
5	Ballia	3
6	Banda	3
7	Basti	3
8	Deoria	3
9	Etah	3
10	Etawah	3
11	Faizabad / Ayodhya	3
12	Farrukhabad cum Fatehgarh	3
13	Fatehpur	3
14	Ghazipur	3
15	Gonda	3
16	Hardoi	3
17	Jaunpur	3
18	Lakhimpur	3
19	Lalitpur	3
20	Mainpuri	3
21	Mathura	3
22	Maunath Bhanjan (Distt. Mau)	3
23	Mirzapur cum Vindhyachal	3
24	Moradabad	4
25	Muzaffarnagar	4
26	Orai	3
27	Raebareli	3
28	Saharanpur	4
29	Shahjahanpur	4
30	Shikohabad	3
31	Sitapur	3
32	Sultanpur	3
Uttarakhand
1	Haldwani cum Kathgodam	3
2	Haridwar	3
West Bengal
1	Alipurduar	3
2	Baharampur	4
3	Balurghat	3
4	Bangaon	3
5	Bankura	3
6	Barddhaman	4
7	Darjiling	3
8	Dhulian	3
9	English Bazar (Maldah)	4
10	Kharagpur	3
11	Krishnanagar	3
12	Puruliya	3
13	Raiganj	3
234	Total	730

October 2026

Your voice can reach the world: At JK Monitor, we firmly believe that every well-researched idea has the power to inspire change beyond geographical boundaries. We are delighted to share an encouraging message from one of our esteemed contributors, Dr. Rakesh Verma (J&K Forest Services). “His article, ‘When Trees Become Rights-Bearing Citizens: A Lesson from Canada for India’s Ecological Future,’ published on JK Monitor, received appreciation from La Compagnie des Papillons Bleus, the French non-profit organisation that founded and promotes the Universal Declaration of Tree Rights.”. Read the message here

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