Music and Youth
Private FM players racing to launch in Mumbai by April-end
Get set for the war of the FM airwaves in Mumbai.
As the deadline of 29 April draws near, all the players in the FM fray are scrambling to launch the city’s first private radio stations. Radio Today (from the Living Media group), Radio Mirchi (offspring of the Times of India Group) and Radio Mid Day (from the Mumbai eveninger’s stable) all expect to be up and beaming on or around that date.
Radio Today, headed by G Krishnan (also CEO of top Hindi television news channel Aaj Tak) will take off by 29 April, official sources say. Nischint Chawla, till recently CEO of Radio Mid Day, is the COO.
Radio Mirchi, which has already spiced up the airwaves in Indore and Ahmedabad, is racing against time for a simultaneous launch in Mumbai and Pune by 1 May, says AP Parigi, managing director Entertainment Network, the Times Group company behind Radio Mirchi. Queried as to where the FM station had located its transmission tower, Parigi mentioned two sites – one at Sterling Buildings in Tardeo in central Mumbai and another in suburban Malad.
According to the information available, the first to get off the blocks in Mumbai may well be Radio Mid Day – likely to launch between 23 and 25 April.
RADIO CITY HITS A ROADBLOCK: Radio City, the ambitious FM project from the Star stable, however, has come up against an unexpected hurdle. The company has still to get its tower and transmitter site clearance from the government. Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL), the company promoting Radio City, already has space earmarked for the radio tower atop the Shripati building at Nana Chowk, central Mumbai, but in the absence of government all clear, is caught in a bind. Says Sumantra Dutta, head of Star’s FM operations: “We are very keen to launch but only if the government gives us clearance on the tower and the transmitter site. We, after all, launched India’s first private FM station (in Bangalore on 3 July 2001) and were the first to demonstrate the true potential of FM in India.”
Till date, FM operations have taken off in four centres – Radio City in Bangalore and Lucknow and Radio Mirchi in Indore and Ahmedabad.
Mumbai will, however, witness the first real case where multiple players will be fighting it out for the listener’s ear. Apart from Radio Mirchi, Radio Today, Radio Mid Day and Radio City, there is also Millennium Broadcast. It is not clear at this stage how far it has gone with its laun
MUMBAI: Mumbai is about to witness something it has never seen before. The Global Youth Festival arrives on 6-7 December at Jio World Garden with 15,000 attendees and 60-plus experiences sprawled across six sprawling arenas. On its sixth edition, this is no ordinary jamboree—it is a carefully orchestrated collision of wellness, adventure, arts, music, yoga and social change.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis will throw open the proceedings with a landmark ceremony, signalling the state’s backing for a movement that has already mobilised youth across 20-plus countries and 170-plus cities. The sheer scale is staggering: 500-plus volunteers powering the machine, 600,000-plus volunteer hours logged across previous editions, and millions of lives touched annually.
The speaker roster is formidable. Diipa Büller-Khosla and Dipali Goenka, chief executive of Welspun India, will share the stage with Malaika Arora in conversations spanning leadership, creativity and culture. Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Mansukhbhai Mandaviya will also attend, reinforcing GYF’s reach into the corridors of power.
But this is not mere talk. The Solaris Mainstage promises concerts from renowned Indian artists. Innerverse delivers a 360-degree LED spectacle of art, technology and sound. The Love and Care Arena houses hands-on projects spanning women’s empowerment, child education, rural upliftment and animal welfare. India’s largest outdoor sound-healing experience awaits. An inflatable obstacle course, neon drifter karts and open-sky bouldering cater to thrill-seekers.
Some have branded GYF the “Coachella of Consciousness.” Others call it “India’s Largest Sober Festival.” Spiritual visionary Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, who inspired the festival, will deliver the Wisdom Masterclass. Every rupee goes to charity.
After Mumbai comes Kolkata on 14 December. New York looms next year. For one weekend in December, Mumbai becomes the epicentre of youth-driven change—and nothing will be quite the same after.
Tickets available on BookMyShow. Visit youthfestival.srmd.org or follow @globalyouthfestival on Instagram.
