I&B Ministry
Day 27: Smaller cities take cumulative winning price to Rs 1155 crore in FM Phase III
NEW DELHI: The cumulative winning price at the end of the 108th round on the 27th day raced up to Rs 1155 crore in the e-auction for the first batch of FM Phase III cities, with smaller cities like Ahmadnagar, Sholapur and Hissar marching forward.
After a week, the number of channels increased by two at 96 channels in 56 cities – and the total bids surpassed the cumulative reserve price by Rs 695.5 crore or 151.2 per cent against the aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.5 crore.
The cumulative provisional winning price has thus risen over the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities – Rs 550.18 crore – by Rs 604.8 crore or 109.9 per cent.
Varanasi continued to march higher to Rs 16.80 crore, and Jodhpur also showed a jump to Rs 11.44 crore, while Kohlapur was stable with Rs 9.44 crore. Others in the waiting for entry to the Rs 10 crore club appear to be Kanpur, Rajkot, Amritsar and Aurangabad, which have all got above Rs 7 crore each.
E-auction will continue as long as bids are received for any of the 135 channels, including the 13 cities for which no bids have come. An Information and Broadcasting Ministry source said that the bidding process was mechanical without human interference and therefore the computer would decide when it is time to stop.
The Auction Activity Requirement rose to 100 per cent after the 59th round on 14 August, after being 90 per cent after the 37th round on 7 August.
One channel in Guwahati had fetched a price of Rs 4.11 crore against its reserve price of Rs 37 lakh, registering a rise of almost of 980 per cent. A few days earlier, Bhubaneswar had also set a record with a single channel getting the most competitive bidding increment-wise (Rs 7.40 crore) by going up nine times the reserve price.
The 13 cities that continue to elude bidders are: Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.
The demand in most cities fell by up to three per cent and by four per cent below the excess demand at the price in the 108th round in Hyderabad.
The Percentage Price Increment applicable for the Next Clock Round rose to five each in Ahmednagar and Hissar but was just one in Varanasi, Shillong and Sholapur. There was no change in the other cities.
The winning price has risen by more than 100 per cent above their respective reserve prices in Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Nasik, Patna, Pune, Rourkela and Varanasi, all of which got provisional winning bidders at prices more than double the respective reserve prices.
The provisional winning price in the top three cities reflected no change: Delhi – Rs 169.16 crore (for just one channel); Mumbai – Rs 122.81 crore (for two channels); and Bengaluru – Rs 109.25 crore.
Chennai at Rs 53.38 crore, Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Pune at Rs 42.03 crore, Jaipur at Rs 28.34 crore, Chandigarh at Rs 19.04 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore, Cochin at Rs 15.04 crore, Nasik at Rs 14.66 crore and Lucknow at Rs 14 crore remained static.
I&B Ministry
CBFC speeds up film certification; average approval time cut to 22 days
Over 71,900 films cleared in five years as digital system shortens approval timelines
MUMBAI:Â The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has significantly reduced the time taken to certify films, with the average approval timeline now down to 22 working days for feature films and just three days for short films.
Operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the statutory body certifies films for public exhibition in line with the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024. The rules prescribe a maximum certification period of 48 working days, though the adoption of the Online Certification System has sharply accelerated the process.
Over the past five years, from 2020-21 to 2024-25, the board certified a total of 71,963 films across formats. Of these, the majority fell under the U category with 41,817 titles, followed by UA with 28,268 films and A with 1,878 films. No films were certified under the S category during the period.
Film approvals have also steadily risen in recent years. The CBFC cleared 8,299 films in 2020-21, a figure that peaked at 18,070 in 2022-23 before settling at 15,444 films in 2024-25. During the same period, 11,064 films were certified with cuts or modifications.
Despite the high volume of certifications, outright refusals remain rare. Only three films were denied certification over the last five years, with one refusal recorded in 2022-23 and two in 2024-25.
The board may recommend cuts or modifications if a film violates statutory parameters relating to the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, defamation, contempt of court or incitement to an offence.
Filmmakers can challenge CBFC decisions in court. Data shows that such disputes remain limited but have seen some fluctuation. Between 2021 and 2025, a total of 21 certification decisions were challenged before High Courts, with the number rising to 10 cases in 2025.
Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan shared the data. The question was raised by Mallikarjun Kharge.
With faster timelines and a largely digital workflow, the certification process appears to be moving at a far brisker pace, signalling a shift towards quicker clearances for India’s growing film output.
