The FM broadcasting in India began in 1977; growing popularity after 2001 when the privatisation of FM broadcasting began. AIR's FM LRS (Local Radio Station) was inaugurated on 1 July 2000 at 06:00 in Kodaikanal relaying Madurai programs in the frequency 100.5 MHz. 100.5 was so popular that LRS was upgraded to an FM Channel in just two months. The channel covered a radius of about due to its location at 2200 meters above MSL at Kodaikanal. KODAI FM is popularly known as it is the biggest individual FM channel in India, in both area coverage and listenership. As of December 2018, there are more than 369 operational private radio stations in more than 101 cities and towns across India. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

-owned

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

which has about 470 FM stations covering 92% of the area and 99.19% of the population of India.

AIR An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

originates programming in 23 languages and 179 dialects.

History

FM broadcasting began on 23 July 1977 in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, then Madras, and was expanded during the 1990s, nearly 50 years after FM broadcasting grew in the United States. India first experimented with private FM broadcasts in Goa and the large metropolitan areas of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, and

. These were followed by private stations in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

and

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

. Until 1993,

, a government undertaking, was the only radio broadcaster in India. The government then decided to privatise the radio broadcasting sector. It sold airtime blocks on its FM channels in

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,

Vizag Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

, and Goa to private operators, who developed their own program content.

The Times Group Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), d/b/a the Times Group, is an Indian media conglomerate based in Mumbai. Notable media properties owned and operated by the group include India's largest selling daily English-language newspaper ''The ...

operated its brand, Times FM, till June 1998. After that, the Indian Government decided not to renew contracts given to private operators. Instead, in 2000, the Indian Government announced the auction of 108 FM frequencies across India, opening up the FM broadcasting industry to private competition. Radio City Bangalore, started on 3 July 2001, is India's first private FM radio station. It launched with presenters such as Vera, Rohit Barker, Seetal Iyer, Jonzie Kurian, Geeta Modgil, Suresh Venkat, and Chaitanya Hegde and Priya Ganapathy on the weekends.

rebranded its radio operations, establishing the

Radio Mirchi Radio Mirchi ("''Mirchi"'' in Hindi meaning red chilli), also known as 98.3 Mirchi, is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the ENIL, EntertainmentNetwork India Ltd (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiarie ...

brand. The first

station began broadcasting on October 4, 2001 in

. Indian policy states that the broadcasters are assessed a one-time entry fee (OTEF), for a license period of 10 years. Under the Indian accounting system, this amount is amortised over the 10-year period at 10% per annum. The annual license fee for private broadcasters is either 4% of revenue share or 10% of reserve price, whichever is higher. India's earlier attempts to privatise its FM channels ran into rough weather when private players bid heavily and most could not meet their commitments to pay the government the amounts they owed.

Content

Nationally, many of the current FM broadcasters, including the

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

, Mid-Day, and

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

are established media institutions in India and are making a strong pitch for news on FM, which is currently limited to nationalized stations only. Private FM stations are allowed to rebroadcast news from All India Radio, as long as they do so without any changes or additions. The Supreme Court of India on 17 October 2013 issued a public interest litigation to the central government requesting that the rules should be changed to allow FM stations to broadcast news reports.

Radio stations by location

National Capital Region

Kolkata, West Bengal

Radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

SRFTI (90.4 MHz, Available within a 10 Km radius of the film institute) *

JU (90.8 MHz, Available within a 5 km radius of the University, from 11:00 AM to 7:30 PM) * Y FM NSHM (91.2 MHz, Available within a 10 km radius of the institute, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM) * Friends FM (91.9 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) * Big FM (92.7 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) * Red FM (93.5 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) * Radio Nasha (94.3 MHz,formerly Radio One) (Bengali, Hindi) *

(98.3 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) * AIR FM Gold (100.1 MHz) * Akashwani Kolkata (100.3 MHz) (Bengali) * AIR FM Vividh Bharati (101.8 MHz) * Fever 104 FM (104 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) * Ishq FM (104.8 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) * AIR FM Rainbow (107 MHz)

Asansol, West Bengal

* Big FM (92.7 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) * Red FM (93.5 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) *

(95.0 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi)

Siliguri, West Bengal

* Radio Misty (94.3 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) * Red FM (93.5 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi) *

(98.3 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi)

Bolpur Santiniketan, West Bengal

* Akashwani Santiniketan (103.1 MHz) (Bengali, Hindi)

Suri, West Bengal

* Gitanjali Radio (90.4 MHz Cultural radio station opened in 2024) (Bengali)

Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

* IIT Kanpur Radio (90.4 MHz) * Waqt Ki Awaz (91.2 MHz) * Big FM (92.7 MHz) * Red FM (93.5 MHz) * Fever 104 FM (95.0 MHz) *

(98.3 MHz) * AIR FM Rainbow (102.2 MHz) * Vividh Bharati (103.7 MHz) * Mirchi Love (91.9 MHz) * News Channel English (105.6 MHz) * Radio City (104.8 MHz) * Gyan Vani (106.4 MHz) * AIR FM Gold (736 MW)

Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh

* AIR Ayodhya Radio (101.4 MHz) * Awadhi Radio (98.2 MHz) * Big FM (92.7 MHz) * Red FM (93.5 MHz) * Fever 104 FM (95.0 MHz) * Radio Ayodhya (102.9 MHz) * Vividh Bharati (103.7 MHz) * Awadh University Radio (96.9 MHz) * NAG FM (106.4 MHz)

Rajasthan

* Radio City (91.1 MHz) * Red FM (93.5 MHz)

(94.3 MHz) * Tadka (95.0 MHz) *

(98.3 MHz) * Radio Selfie (90.8 MHz) *

(100.3 MHz) * All India Radio(Jaipur) (101.2 MHz) * Mirchi Love (104.0 MHz) * 89.6 FM Sikar (89.6 MHz)

Ahmedabad, Gujarat

- 98.3 FM (Times Group) * My FM - 94.3 FM D B Corp Ltd. * Red FM - 93.5 FM (Sun Group * Radio City - 91.1 FM (Music Broadcast Limited) * Radio One - 95.0 FM (Only Bollywood Retro Station of Ahmedabad) *AIR Vividh Bharati - 96.7 FM (All India Radio) *Micavaani - 90.4 FM (Mudra Institute of Communications) *AIR Gyan Vaani - 105.4 FM (All India Radio) *Mirchi Love - 104 FM (Times Group) *All India radio - 100.1 FM *Radio Nazariya - 107.8 FM (Drishti)

Hyderabad

Mumbai, Maharashtra

* Bansal FM 95.5 * Vividh Bharati * Jago Mumbai 90.8 * Radio City 91.1 FM * Big FM 92.7 * Red FM 93.5 * Radio One 94.3 (Only English Radio station of Mumbai) *

98.3 FM * Radio Dhamaal 106.4 * AIR FM Gold 100.7 * RAINBOW FM 102.2 * Fever 104 FM 104.0 * Oye 104.8 104.8 * AIR FM Rainbow 107.1 * Mumbai One * Magic FM 106.4 * Gyan Vani * Radio MUST * Radio Nasha 91.9

Bengaluru, Karnataka

* Radio City 91.1 FM -

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

* Indigo 91.9 FM FM - (English, Devotional) *

Big Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a ...

92.7 FM -

* Red FM 93.5 FM -

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

* Radio ONE FM 94.3 - English *

95 FM -

98.3 FM Kannada * Ragam 100.1 FM (Classical) * FM Rainbow 101.3 FM (Kannada, Hindi, English) * Vividh Bharti 102.9 FM (Kannada, Hindi) * Fever FM 104 FM (Hindi) * Radio Active Community Radio 106.4 FM (Kannada, English, Hindi)

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Source: *AIR FM - RAINBOW 101.4 Multilingual *AIR FM - GOLD 102.3 Tamil *Chennai Live 104.8 FM ENGLISH *Hello FM (106.4), Tamil * Suryan FM 93.5, Tamil * Fever FM 91.9, Tamil * BIG FM 92.7, Tamil * Radio City FM 91.1, Tamil * Radio Mirchi FM 98.3, Tamil *Radio one 94.3, Tamil *Anna FM 90.4 Tamil

Kerala state

*Radio Mattoli FM 90.4,

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...

* Radio DC FM 90.4,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

*Radio Macfast FM 90.4,

Thiruvalla Thiruvalla, () also spelled Tiruvalla, is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. The town is spread over an area of and has a population of 52,883 people, down from 56,837 in 2001. It is also the H ...

*AIR Real FM 103.6 in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

*Radio Mirchi 104.00 in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

* Radio Mango 91.9, in

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

& 92.7 in Alappuzha * Red FM 93.5 in

& Red FM 95 in

* Club FM 94.3 in

& Club FM 104.8 in Alappuzha,

98.3 in

, * BIG FM 92.7 in Thiruvananthapuram *AIR FM Rainbow 107.5 in

*AIR Ananthapuri FM 101.9 in

, *AIR Thiruvananthapuram 106.5 *AIR Thrissur 101.1 *AIR Kochi FM 102.3 *AIR Kannur 101.5 *AIR Devikulam 101.4 * AIR Manjeri FM 102.7 *AIR Gyan Vani-Kochi 106.5 *Radio Media Village Changanacherry FM 90.8 * Global Radio 91.2 FM Alappuzha * Radio Neythal 107.8 FM Alappuzha

Market view, Jaipur

Traditionally, radio accounts for 7% to 8% of advertiser expenditures around the world. In India, it is less than 2% at present. The ministry of broadcasting in India is setting up more (86) FM Radio to all parts of India by March 2017. List of FM Stations in Jaipur: :1. 94.3 MY FM (Listenership; 18 lacs plus) :2. 98.3 Radio Mirchi (Listenership; 12 lacs plus) :3. 104 Mirchi Love (Listenership; 10 lacs plus) :4. 93.5 Red FM (Listenership; 8.6 lacs plus) :5. 91.1 Radio City (Listenership; 6 lacs plus) :6. 95 Tadka (Listenership; 1.4 lacs plus)

Current allocation process

In FM Phase II — the latest round of the long-delayed opening up of private FM in India — some 338 frequencies were offered of which about 237 were sold.

References

{{Audio broadcasting Lists of radio stations in India