NEW DELHI: Following the issuance of the Notice Inviting Applications for 69 existing and eight new cities in FM Radio Phase III, the Government announced on Wednesday, 4 March, that it will hold a pre-bid conference.

It is scheduled to be held in the Conference Hall of the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity in Soochna Bhavan, in the capital, on 10 March in the afternoon.

The notice on the I & B Ministry website said that the meet was for 135 channels in 69 existing cities.

The e-auction is expected to take place around the third or last week of April. The Ministry also published the reserve price for each of the cities in the NIA.

The NIA also said the last date for seeking clarifications will be 11 March, clarifications to NIA on 16 March, last date for submission of applications on 23 March, publication of ownership details of applicants on 7 April, Bidder Ownership Compliance Certificate on 10 April, pre-qualification of bidders on 17 April or completion of requisite formalities whichever is later, and a mock auction within a week of that and the main e-auction a week thereafter.

The Ministry has placed the full details of the formalities on its website and has appointed M/s C1 India Private Limited as the ‘Auctioneer’ to advise the Government on the Auction. Administration of the e-auction shall also be the responsibility of M/s C1 India Private Limited.