NEW DELHI: The e-auctions for the second batch of Radio FM Phase III has been put off by a day to 26 October 2016.

According to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, this has been done as “it is informed that some of the prospective bidder(s) are facing technical difficulties for participating in auction”.

A note on the website put up late in the evening said the auction had therefore been postponed by One day and will now start on 26 October 2016 from 9.30 am. Late last week, the government had released the earnest money deposit (EMD) by the pre-qualified bidders and the initial eligibility points (IEP) of each of these.

According to a list put up on the website of the Ministry, Entertainment Network (India) Limited of the Times Group tops the list with an earnest money deposit of over Rs 375 million (Rs 37.5 crore) thus gaining 15,000 eligibility points.

This is followed by Ushodaya Enterprises Private Limited with around Rs 133.3 million (around Rs 13.33 crore) as EMD,getting 5331 IEP and Kal Radio Limited with EMD of Rs 133 million (Rs 13.3 crore) and 5320 IEP.

Alll the eleven bidders have put in an EMD of less than Rs 130 million (Rs 13 crore).

The Ministry said any assistance in this regard is available on contact helpdesk +91-124- 430 2039 or support@c1eauctions.com.

For the second batch, the Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending e-auction process will be carried out for allotting the FM channels, conducted over the Internet. Bidders will be able to access the Electronic Auction System to be used for participation in the Auctions using web browsing software: Internet Explorer 11.x, or Mozilla 34.x. The EAS is a designated computer resource for the receiving of electronic records under the provisions of Section 13(2) of the Information Technology Act 2000, as amended from time to time.

The second batch of FM Radio Phase-III channels comprises 266 channels in 92 cities. The channels include 227 channels in 69 fresh cities and 39 channels in 23 existing cities which had remained unsold as there were no bids.

As in the first stage, the e-auctions will be conducted by C1 India Private Ltd. A Pre Bid conference was held on 11 July 2016, following by training and then a mock auction earlier this month.

The first payment of 25 per cent of the Successful Bid Amount will be made within five calendar days, and the remaining within 15 calendar days of the close of the Auction and notification of successful bidders by the Government.

The Ministry had decided to conduct e-auction of FM Radio Channels in batches under the extant FM Phase-III Policy in view of the large number of cities and channels.
 

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FM P-III auction: EMD, bidders initial eligibility declared

Second batch auction of FM Phase III starts 25 October, 14 companies in fray