After the open auction by the information and broadcasting ministry for thefour cities, New Media bagged the contracts for Bhopal and Calcutta, andBennett Coleman and Company bagged the contract for Calcutta (Rs 100 lakh)and got the lone bid for Bhubaneshwar (Rs 24 lakh). India Today's parentcompany Living Media Private Ltd bagged one of the Calcutta stations.

Five companies bagged the licence for Bangalore, with a licence fee of Rs6.8 crore. At least 10 broadcasters have been awarded the licence forCalcutta for a fee of Rs 1 crore.

The five broadcasters which bagged Bangalore include the BPL group-promotedIndigo Radio, Hindustan Broadcasting, Hind Broadcasting, Music Broadcasting,and Kismet Radio.

Calcutta went at a minimum reserve price to Bennett Coleman and Co, theReliance-backed Observer Network, Living Media, New Media, theDabur-promoted Vertex Broadcasting, Hind Broadcasting, HindustanBroadcasting, Hertz FM Radio, India FM Radio, and Magic Radio.

There were 15 companies in the race for Bangalore, 10 for Calcutta, five forBhopal, and three for Bhubaneswar.

Two companies which backed out from the bidding process were New Digital andDakshin Bharat.

In the earlier round of bidding, New India Broadcasting and Bennett Colemanand Co had bagged Ahemdabad for Rs 2.55 crore.

The period of the licences will be 10 years from the date of issue of theoperational licence by the wireless coordination committee, but the amountmentioned is for the first year, with a provision of 15 per cent increaseevery year.

The Government has offered channels in 40 cities, and the auction process isto continue till March 15.

In the next round to be held on Monday, Chennai and Chandigarh will be upfor grabs. Delhi, Cochin, Coimbatore, and Cuttack will come up for biddingon March 7.

The Government had in July last year decided to allow private operators toset up FM broadcasting channels, almost exactly a year after All India Radio(AIR) had taken over the operations of its FM channel amid controversy.However, the Government had made it clear that FM broadcasting will not bepermitted in news and current affairs, and the channels will be free-to-air.It had also clarified that this did not mean privatisation of AlR.