I&B Ministry
Day 3: FM Phase III sees over Rs 170 crore increase in provisional winning price
NEW DELHI: The third day of the e-auction for FM Radio channels in Phase III picked up marginally but there were no bids in as many as 14 cities and the provisional winning price was lower than the Clock round Price in some cases.
In all, 12 rounds of e-auction have been completed including four today for all the 135 FM channels in all the existing 69 cities of the first stage being opened.
At the close of third day of bidding, 80 channels in 55 cities became provisionally winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of around Rs 549 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 377 crore.
The Auction began today with Auction Activity Requirement set at 80 per cent.
The demand over the price in many cities fell by up to three per cent below the aggregate demand.
The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round was five in the metros of Mumbai and Chennai, and in Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Rourkela, Jodhpur, and Pune and went up to eight per cent in Dehi.
The highest Provisional winning price – the same as the Clock round price at the start of the eighth round – was in Mumbai – Rs 67.38 crore followed closely by Delhi – Rs 65.45 crore, with both showing sizeable increase compared to the first two days.
Hyderabad and Lucknow remained static at Rs 18 crore and Rs 14 crore respectively. Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose sizeably in Bengaluru – Rs 36.94 crore; and marginally higher in Chennai – Rs 20.98 crore; Pune – Rs 23.95 crore; and Ahmedabad – Rs 20.53 crore. In Cochin at Rs 10.21 crore and Chandigarh at Rs 15.61 crore, it fell just marginally below the clock round price.
I&B Ministry
Press Sewa Portal digitises 1.5 lakh records, streamlines periodical registrations: MIB
Online system spans 780 districts; Rs 5.6 crore penalties, 88,315 titles cancelled
NEW DELHI: India’s print media registry has quietly moved from dusty files to digital dashboards. The government has digitised more than 1.5 lakh historical records of newspapers and periodicals and shifted registrations fully online through the Press Sewa Portal.
Introduced under the Press and Registration of Periodicals (PRP) Act, 2023, the portal now handles all applications for registering periodicals, replacing the earlier paper-heavy system created under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, which has since been repealed.
The digital shift brings a wide range of services onto a single platform. Publishers can now register new periodicals, revise registrations, transfer ownership, file annual statements, pay penalties online and apply for circulation verification without navigating government offices.
As part of the rollout, specified authorities in 780 districts across India have been onboarded onto the platform. Since 1 March 2024, the portal has processed 11,081 applications and issued certificates across different categories.
The transition has also brought stronger compliance. According to government data, Rs 5.63 crore in penalties has been collected through the portal so far. States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh account for some of the largest penalty collections.
At the same time, the authorities have carried out a major clean-up of inactive or non-compliant publications. A total of 88,315 periodicals have been cancelled nationwide, with Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi among the states reporting the highest number of cancellations.
The government says the system will continue to evolve based on feedback from users. The Press Registrar General of India (PRGI) regularly reviews suggestions to improve services and make compliance easier for publishers.
The full list of registered newspapers and periodicals is available on the PRGI website under the Registered Titles section.
The information was shared in a written reply in the Lok Sabha by minister of state for information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs L Murugan, responding to a question from Damodar Agrawal.
