The Government has approved e-auction of 683 private FM radio channels covering 236 cities.
These include 175 cities having a population above one lakh and up to 3 lakh besides 10 cities in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern states having a population of up to one
lakh.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said, presently AIR has 476 transmitters at 442 locations which provide FM coverage to urban, semi-urban, rural, hilly, border and Left Wing Extremism affected areas of the country.