I&B Ministry
Day 30: 120 bidding rounds completed in FM Phase III e-auction
NEW DELHI: Activity was seen in just one small city – Bareilly – and there was virtually no bidding on the 30th day in the FM Phase III e-auctions with the cumulative winning price at the end of the 120th round rising by just Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1156.8 crore.
Clearly the bids for all the big cities appear to be over and it is now the smaller 31 cities that have so far got bids of Rs 1 – 9 crore that will call the shots.
The number of channels remained the same as yesterday – 97 channels in 56 cities, but the bids took the cumulative reserve price up to by Rs 696.8 crore or 151.5 per cent against the aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 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 606.6 crore or 110.2 per cent.
Cities expected to enter the Rs 10 crore club in the next few days appear to be Jodhpur, Kanpur, Rajkot, Amritsar, Madurai, and Aurangabad, which have all got above Rs 6 crore each.
Even after 30 days of bidding, 13 cities elude bidder. 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 120thround in Hyderabad.
The Percentage Price Increment applicable for the Next Clock Round rose to five in Bareilly, which had a bid of Rs 47,23,425. It remained nil in the other cities.
The e-auction will now re-commence on Monday, 7 September.
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: 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.
