A decision to this effect was taken by the Union cabinet which would open nearly 150 new FM channels with licenses being given to private operators in 40 cities.

Announcing this after a cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan told reporters that these channels would not be allowed to broadcast news and current affairs and would cover only areas like music, entertainment, information and education.

He said though the entry would be confined to only 100 per cent Indian companies, foreign institutional investment would not be a disqualification.

Replying to questions, Mahajan said license fee has not yet been fixed and modalities would be worked out later on city to city basis. He, however, said licence would initially be valid for ten years and applicant would be permitted only one licence per centre.Mahajan said the four metro cities would have a maximum of 12 FM stations with the private operators to set up their own studios and transmitters.

These channels would include not only private commercial broadcasters, but also non-governmental organisations (NGOs), educational institutions and community radios who would run educational and public service programmes. Mahajan made it clear that there would be no privatisation of All India Radio but only allocation of additional frequencies to private operators.