NEW DELHI: With a big jump to Rs 2,77,82,803, Muzaffarpur has raised hopes that smaller tows can also attract bidders in the ongoing FM Phase III auctions, even as the 23rd day remained dull as 89 rounds were completed.

Muzaffarpur had risen to Rs 2,28,56,982 from Rs 1,88,04,498 on 1 December in an otherwise dull auction with virtually no movement and 44 cities still failing to attract any bids.

The situation remained the same in Hyderabad and Dehradun still at top with Rs 23,43,48,266 and Rs 15,61,00,590 respectively.

The aggregate rise in bids in around forty cities remaining unchanged at just one or two points, and will need the fourteen bidding companies to put in more effort to be successful in bagging any more channels. M/s South Asia FM Ltd has been declared as the winning bidder for five Radio FM channels, just a day after the commencement of the auction for the second batch of Phase III. The company will be allotted FM Channels in Surat, Amritsar, Patna, Chandigarh and Jammu.

Other than Hyderabad and Dehradun, the top fifteen cities remained static with bids of more than Rs 32 million. The bids at Alappuzha (Alleppey), Erode, Hubli-Dharwad, Nellore, Salem, Vellore and Vijaywada remained at just over Rs 70 million while bids for Tiruchy was just above Rs 50 million and Tirupathi and Puducherry to a little over Rs 40 million. Amravati, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Ujjain bid a little over Rs 35 million and Mysuru a little over Rs 32 million.

The first day of auction on 26 October saw a winning price of Rs 1820 million against the aggregate price of Rs 1792 million, while the second day onwards the bidding has been low.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told radioandmusic.com that the aim was to continue till all the channels slated in the second batch were auctioned, but breaks will have to be taken for weekends and national holidays.

This data has been compiled on the basis of system generated “Final Round Result Report” and “Frequency Identification Report” accessible through auction administrator role.