NEW DELHI: A sum of Rs 393 crore has been set aside under the 12th Plan for improving the set-up of All India Radio and expansion of FM services in the country.

The Parliament was informed by Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar that around sixty per cent of AIR studios had been digitised during the 10th Plan. Schemes have been sanctioned for the digitisation of AIR set-ups to improve the quality of AIR programmes and expansion of FM Services in the country during the 11th Plan.

The Direct Budgetary Support for the Annual Plan 2014-15 provided to AIR is 227.01 crore which includes `10.00 crore for Scheme-II 'Content Development and Dissemination' and 217.01 Crore for various schemes under 'Broadcasting Infrastructure Network Development' and special projects. The thrust area of the scheme is mainly on digitisation of AIR network, strengthening of AIR/DD coverage in border areas, expansion of FM services, and E-governance.

Answering another question, Javadekar said six new AIR stations are technically ready and Prasar Bharati has taken initiatives for exploring the possibilities for commissioning of these stations by transferring staff from other stations or deploying retired AIR/Doordarshan personnel on contractual basis.

However, Prasar Bharati has not fixed any time frame for commissioning these stations. These include four stations in Uttarakhand (Bageshwar, Dehradun, Gairsen, and New Tehri); Uttar Pradesh (Banda), and Tripura (Longtherai).