I&B Ministry
I&B ministry clears Rs 29.7 billion expansion plan for Doordarshan, AIR
MUMBAI: As part of the tenth five year plan outlay, the Information & Broadcasting ministry has approved Rs 25.63 billion towards Doordarshan’s development.Additionally, Rs 4.11 billion has been set aside for the expansion of All India Radio’s (AIR) services.
The total outlay earmarked for DD and AIR in the Tenth Plan is Rs 29.74 billion.
As part of the expansion plans for AIR, a special package will be provided for Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and the north-eastern states, including Andaman & Nicobar Islands (A&N).
This was announced by Information & Broadcasting and parliamentary affairs P R Dasmunsi yesterday in the Lok Sabha.
According to an official statement, 12 new/upgradation projects have been identified for the J&K. Kathua and Rajouri will have FM radio stations as part of the schemes.
Under Phase I, North East special plan, 10 kW FM transmitters will come up at Itanagar, Kohima and Port Blair.
Under Phase II of North-Eastern special plan, the undernoted transmission/relay facilities will be provided with
#10 kW FM transmitter, playback studio, staff quarters at Gangtok – (additional channel).
#5 kW FM transmitter, playback studio, at Silchar – (additional channel).
#1 kW FM transmitters, voice over recording/dubbing, field production facilities, staff quarters at 19 places i.e. Daporijo, Anini, Bomdila, Changlang, Khonsa (Arunachal Pradesh), Karimganj, Lumding, Goalpara (Assam), Ukhrul, Tamenglong (Manipur), Dawki (Meghalaya), Tuipang, Chemphai, Kolasib (Mizoram), Wokha, Zunehboto, Phek (Nagaland) and Udaipur, Nutan Bazar (Tripura).
#100 W FM transmitter at different locations in North Eastern region (100 places) to cover uncovered area.
Dasmunsi also spoke on the expenditure incurred by AIR and Doordarshan up to June 2006, which has been Rs 592.6 million and Rs 9 billion, respectively, informs the official statement.
Interestingly, under the second phase of private FM radio stations, the policy prohibits allocation of more than 15 per cent of total allocated channels in the country to a single company – including its holding, subsidiary, inter-connected companies and companies with the same management.
Moreover, networking of channels by any two entities has also been specifically prohibited.
Thus, following this restriction, the Reliance-owned Adlabs and Sun-promoted South Asia FM and Kal Radio had to surrender some circles to adhere to the government mandated national cap of 15 per cent. Both the companies had given up on the stations in the north-east zone to abide by the policy. For example:Adlabs Films had surrendered the frequencies, which included Gangtok, Imphal, Kohima, Port Blair, Shillong, to name a few. While, South Asia FM had given up Imphal, Kohima, Port Blair, Rourkela, Muzzaffarpur, amongst others.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
