New Delhi: AIR coverage (MW + FM) covers 92.00 percent of the area and 99.20 percent of the total population of the country.

FM stations alone reach 32.5 percent of the country’s area and 45 percent of the population. A decade earlier in 2005, the coverage was 20 percent of area and thirty percent of the population; parliament was informed by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore.

However, Prasar Bharati sources said this does not take into account the coverage through Doordarshan’s DTH Freedish. 21 AIR channels have been made available on Freedish and these can be received through a set top box all over the country with the help of small sized dish antenna receiving units. The sources also said that Vividh Bharati, which is a very popular AIR channel, is now also available on FM in addition to MW.

Rathore also said schemes for setting up of 88 new AIR broadcasting stations had been approved. He said AIR now had 414 broadcasting stations at present as compared to 145 MW and 123 FM transmitters ten years earlier.

AIR has 145 MW transmitters and 409 FM transmitters in the network including 194 100 Watt FM relay transmitters for localized coverage.

Rathore said AIR is continuously improving its network to enhance the quality of broadcast. Schemes have been approved for replacement of old outlived programme production equipment and transmitters and installation of new setups from time to time under Five Year Plans.

In an attempt to increase radio density in the rural/remote/backward/tribal region, AIR has installed high power MW transmitters at capital /major cities of the states which are presently providing radio coverage to rural, remote, backward and tribal regions of the respective states.

AIR broadcasting centres have also been set up especially in backward/ tribal areas of the country.

New FM transmitters are also being set up in the country including rural/ remote/ backward/ tribal region of the country.

Popular AIR channels have been provided on Internet and Android, iOS and Windows based applications.