FM auctions: Bid price over ₹1,000 cr

The provisional winning bid price crossed the ₹1,000-crore mark on Wednesday at the e-auction of the first batch of Private FM Radio Phase III channels. “At the close of the day, 87 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of ₹1,005 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about ₹425 crore,” said the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in a statement. This is about 82.7 per cent higher than the total reserve price of the first batch which was set at ₹550.18 crore. The auction for the first batch comprising 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities of phase II began on July 27. So far, 52 rounds of bidding have been completed.