At the end of the fifth day of bidding at the e-auction of the private FM radio channels phase III, the provisional winning price of one channel in Delhi crossed the ₹100-crore mark. The price closed at about ₹105.23 crore, which is three times reserve price of ₹31.42 crore. On Friday, 80 radio channels in 55 cities became provisional winners with a cumulative provisional winning price of around ₹714 crore against their aggregate reserve price of around ₹391 crore. So far 20 rounds of bidding have been completed. Bidding will recommence on Monday.
A statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said, “Thus the summation of provisional winning prices exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch by about ₹163.48 crore or about 29.71 per cent.” The total reserve price of the first batch of 135 frequencies in 69 cities was ₹550.18 crore. Mumbai’s provisional winning price on Friday closed at ₹82.72 crore exceeding the reserve price set at ₹35.2 crore.