Aim to have one community radio in every district: Anurag Thakur | India News

NEW DELHI: The government is working towards realising the vision of PM Narendra Modi to have at least one community radio in every district, information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said at the Regional Community Radio Sammelan on Sunday.

He also said that the government will soon conduct an e-auction of 808 FM radio stations across 284 cities to further increase the footprint of radio communication. He said India currently has 388 FM radio stations in 113 cities across 26 states and five Union territories.
Thakur said community radio services had flourished despite multiple challenges of human resources and finance, and that the government was happy to create an enabling environment for them to thrive in.

Listing the measures taken to ease licensing and approval process, the minister said licensing time has been reduced from four years to six months, while 13 processes had been brought down to eight. He added that efforts are under way to reduce this time further, and the application processes is now available online on Broadcast Seva Portal.
I&B secretary Apurva Chandra said 120 community radio stations were added in the last two years, taking the total to over 450.