I&B Ministry
FM Phase III 1st stage comes to a close with bids for 97 channels in 56 cities
NEW DELHI: Clocking just one round as compared to four daily rounds on the 33rd day, the first stage of the FM Phase III channel allocation stage has been closed with 97 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of about Rs 1156.9 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 crore.
While there were no bids for FM channels in 13 cities, there was no activity even the smaller 31 cities that have so far got bids of Rs 1 – 9 crore.
However, the government, which had said the e-auction would continue as long as there was even one bidder – claimed that over 71 per cent channels of the first batch were provisionally won by bidders.
Thus, the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the corresponding 97 channels by Rs 697.05 crore or 151.58 per cent.
Overall, cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch – Rs 550.18 crore – by Rs 606.72 crore or 110.27 per cent.
At the top are three cities namely Delhi at Rs 169.16 crore for one channel, Mumbai at Rs 122.81 crore for two channels and Bengaluru at Rs 109.25 crore for one channel.
The position is the same for other cities having got bids of more than Rs 10 crore with 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, Varanasi at Rs 17.49 crore, Cochin at Rs 15.04 crore, Nasik at Rs 14.66 crore, Lucknow at Rs 14 crore and Jodhpur at Rs 11.44 crore. Kolhapur was not very far behind with a bid above Rs 9 crore at Rs 9.44 crore.
Cities like Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar and Jodhpur witnessed robust bidding activity with provisionally won price being as high as 800 per cent over the reserve price for their channels. Overall, 18 cities got provisionally won bidders for their channels at prices more than double the respective reserve prices. The winning price rose by more than 100 per cent above their respective reserve prices in Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolhapur, Nasik, Patna, Pune, Rourkela and Varanasi, all of which got provisional winning bidders at prices more than double the respective reserve prices.
The cumulative winning price is exclusive of the migration fee, which will take the total revenue even higher, sources in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said.
The government said e-auction of the first batch consists of two stages – channel allocation stage, and frequency allocation stage. After the channel allocation stage, the frequency allocation stage will commence tomorrow.
During this stage, the provisional winning bidders will be allowed to select FM frequency for the winning channel from the frequencies already identified in the respective city and as mentioned in the notice inviting applications of 2 March, 2015 read with its subsequent amendments.
Frequency selection preference would be based upon the rank of the bidders: that is, Rank 1 bidder would have the first preference to choose from the frequencies already identified. It may be noted that all the identified frequencies were made available for selection and included in the NIA.
After the e-Auction process is over, the government will notify the list of successful bidders.
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.
The 13 cities that eluded 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 124th round in Hyderabad.
I&B Ministry
MeitY & Reliance Foundation launch e-SafeHER cyber training for Women
Programme aims to train one million rural women in cyber safety over three years
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has partnered with Reliance Foundation and C-DAC Hyderabad to launch ‘e-SafeHER’, a nationwide cyber security awareness programme aimed at empowering one million women across rural India.
Anchored under the Information Security Education and Awareness Programme, the initiative will focus on building digital confidence and safe online practices among women who are increasingly using digital platforms for financial transactions, livelihoods and essential services.
The programme will be rolled out through a community-led model, with training delivered via women’s self-help groups and grassroots networks. C-DAC Hyderabad will develop and localise training content, while Reliance Foundation will drive on-ground implementation using its rural outreach platforms.
Speaking on the launch, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology secretary S Krishnan said, “e-SafeHER is an exciting opportunity to bring together knowledge and collaboration to build a cyber secure Bharat. Through this initiative, women from even the remotest regions will be empowered to participate safely in the digital ecosystem.”
Echoing this, Reliance Foundation director Isha Ambani said the initiative aims to equip women with the skills needed to navigate the online world safely. She added that the goal is to enable one million “Cyber Sakhis” who can confidently adopt digital tools to improve their lives and livelihoods.
The programme will begin with pilot training in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, before scaling nationwide through a phased approach. It will use multilingual content, audio-visual modules and blended learning formats to ensure accessibility and engagement.
Designed for long-term impact, e-SafeHER will be integrated into existing digital literacy and women’s empowerment programmes, avoiding the need for parallel infrastructure. The initiative also aims to drive measurable behavioural change, from improved awareness of cyber risks to safer digital transactions.
By combining policy, technology and grassroots reach, the programme looks to bridge not just the digital divide, but the digital safety gap, ensuring that inclusion goes hand in hand with security.
