Lok Sabha Question No. 243 (STARRED), answered on 2018-01-04
Subject: Transmission Towers of AIR
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: RAJU ALIAS DEVAPPA ANNA SHETTI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *243 (TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.01.2018)

## TRANSMISSION TOWERS OF AIR

## *243.  SHRI RAJU SHETTY:

## Will  the  MINISTER  OF  INFORMATION  AND  BROADCASTING  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) the number of transmission towers available with the All India Radio (AIR) in the country; (b)  whether these towers are also used/ rented its towers to relay programmes of private radio channels to get additional revenue and if so, the details thereof; (c) whether AIR has received any proposal from the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for using their transmission towers for mobile network; (d) if so, the details thereof and the action taken by AIR thereon; and (e)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  the  use  of  some  of  the  transmission towers  by  both  AIR  and  BSNL  so  as  to  reduce  the  expenditure  on  installation  of
- these towers?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. *243 FOR ANSWER ON 04.01.2018.

- (a) Prasar Bharati has informed that 280 towers of various heights are available with All India Radio (AIR).
- (b) Presently, 57 AIR towers are shared with Private FM Broadcasters on rental basis. The  details are given in Annexure-A . In addition to that  37 Doordarshan (DD) towers are also shared with Private FM Broadcasters on rental  basis.  The  details  are  given  in Annexure-B .  The  revenue  from sharing of AIR/ DD towers during 2016-17 was about Rs. 41 crore.
- (c) & (d) Prasar Bharati has informed that as of now, at 32 places BSNL/MTNL are  using  Prasar  Bharati  (AIR&DD)  infrastructure  on  rental  basis.  The details are given in Annexure-C .  At 6 places proposals are with BSNL for signing of agreement. The details are given in Annexure-D . Proposals from BSNL for sharing of AIR/ DD towers at 13 places have been received as per details given in Annexure-E .
- (e) It  is  stated  that  in  order  to  synergize  efforts  for  multiple  utilization  of resources and sharing of existing capacities/communication towers of both Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Department of Telecommunications,  a  committee  of  officers  of  Ministry  of  Information  & Broadcasting (including DD & AIR) and Department of Telecommunications (including  BSNL  &  MTNL)  has  been  formed  on  28.01.2015  to  ascertain technical feasibility and  decide  terms  and  conditions  of  infrastructure sharing.

***

## ANNEXURE  AS  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *243 FOR ANSWER ON 04.01.2018

## ANNEXURE-A

## AIR Towers shared with private FM Broadcasters

|   Sr. No. | Location of towers   | State           |
|-----------|----------------------|-----------------|
|         1 | Kanpur               | Uttar Pradesh   |
|         2 | Surat                | Gujarat         |
|         3 | Allahabad            | Uttar Pradesh   |
|         4 | Asansol              | West Bengal     |
|         5 | Coimbatore           | Tamil Nadu      |
|         6 | Jamshedpur           | Jharkhand       |
|         7 | Madurai              | Tamil Nadu      |
|         8 | Vadodara             | Gujarat         |
|         9 | Varanasi             | Uttar Pradesh   |
|        10 | Visakhapatnam        | Andhra Pradesh  |
|        11 | Ahmednagar           | Maharashtra     |
|        12 | Akola                | Maharashtra     |
|        13 | Aligarh              | Uttar Pradesh   |
|        14 | Bikaner              | Rajasthan       |
|        15 | Bilaspur             | Chhattisgarh    |
|        16 | Chandigarh           | Chandigarh/UT   |
|        17 | Dhule                | Maharashtra     |
|        18 | Gorakhpur            | Uttar Pradesh   |
|        19 | Gulbarga             | Karnataka       |
|        20 | Haflong              | Assam           |
|        21 | Jammu                | Jammu & Kashmir |
|        22 | Jhansi               | Uttar Pradesh   |
|        23 | Kannur               | Kerala          |
|        24 | Kolhapur             | Maharashtra     |
|        25 | Kozhikode            | Kerala          |
|        26 | Mangalore            | Karnataka       |
|        27 | Nanded               | Maharashtra     |
|        28 | Nasik                | Maharashtra     |
|        29 | Patiala              | Punjab          |
|        30 | Puducherry           | Puducherry      |
|        31 | Rourkela             | Odisha          |
|        32 | Sangli               | Maharashtra     |
|        33 | Srinagar             | Jammu & Kashmir |
|        34 | Sholapur             | Maharashtra     |
|        35 | Siliguri             | West Bengal     |

|   36 | Tiruchy           | Tamil Nadu        |
|------|-------------------|-------------------|
|   37 | Tirunelveli       | Tamil Nadu        |
|   38 | Tirupati          | Andhra Pradesh    |
|   39 | Tuticorin         | Tamil Nadu        |
|   40 | Thrissur          | Kerala            |
|   41 | Udaipur           | Rajasthan         |
|   42 | Warangal          | Telangana         |
|   43 | Aizawl            | Mizoram           |
|   44 | Hissar            | Haryana           |
|   45 | Itanagar          | Arunachal Pradesh |
|   46 | Panaji            | Goa               |
|   47 | Junagarh          | Gujarat           |
|   48 | Poonch            | Jammu & Kashmir   |
|   49 | Kathua            | Jammu & Kashmir   |
|   50 | Leh               | Jammu & Kashmir   |
|   51 | Godhra            | Gujarat           |
|   52 | Ujjain            | Madhya Pradesh    |
|   53 | Amravati          | Maharashtra       |
|   54 | Raigarh           | Chhattisgarh      |
|   55 | Dhubri            | Assam             |
|   56 | Delhi (Mall Road) | Delhi             |
|   57 | Aurangabad        | Maharashtra       |

## ANNEXURE  AS  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *243 FOR ANSWER ON 04.01.2018

## ANNEXURE-B

## Doordarshan Towers shared with Private FM Broadcasters

|   S. No. | Location of towers   | State            |
|----------|----------------------|------------------|
|        1 | Mumbai               | Maharashtra      |
|        2 | Ahmedabad            | Gujarat          |
|        3 | Bengaluru            | Karnataka        |
|        4 | Lucknow              | Uttar Pradesh    |
|        5 | Pune                 | Maharashtra      |
|        6 | Agartala             | Tripura          |
|        7 | Agra                 | Uttar Pradesh    |
|        8 | Ajmer                | Rajasthan        |
|        9 | Amritsar             | Punjab           |
|       10 | Bareilly             | Uttar Pradesh    |
|       11 | Bhopal               | Madhya Pradesh   |
|       12 | Bhubaneswar          | Odisha           |
|       13 | Chennai              | Tamilnadu        |
|       14 | Delhi                | Delhi            |
|       15 | Gangtok              | Sikkim           |
|       16 | Guwahati             | Assam            |
|       17 | Gwalior              | Madhya Pradesh   |
|       18 | Hubli-Dharwad        | Karnataka        |
|       19 | Indore               | Madhya Pradesh   |
|       20 | Jabalpur             | Madhya Pradesh   |
|       21 | Jalandhar            | Punjab           |
|       22 | Jodhpur              | Rajasthan        |
|       23 | Karnal               | Haryana          |
|       24 | Kolkata              | West Bengal      |
|       25 | Kota                 | Rajasthan        |
|       26 | Muzaffarpur          | Bihar            |
|       27 | Mysore               | Karnataka        |
|       28 | Nagpur               | Maharashtra      |
|       29 | Patna                | Bihar            |
|       30 | Raipur               | Chhattisgarh     |
|       31 | Rajahmundry          | Andhra Pradesh   |
|       32 | Rajkot               | Gujarat          |
|       33 | Ranchi               | Jharkhand        |
|       34 | Thiruvananthapuram   | Kerala           |
|       35 | Vellore              | Tamilnadu        |
|       36 | Vijayawada           | Andhra Pradesh   |
|       37 | Shimla               | Himachal Pradesh |

## ANNEXURE AS REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) & (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *243 FOR ANSWER ON 04.01.2018

## ANNEXURE-C

| Station wise details of sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure with BSNL/ MTNL   | Station wise details of sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure with BSNL/ MTNL   | Station wise details of sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure with BSNL/ MTNL   | Station wise details of sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure with BSNL/ MTNL   | Station wise details of sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure with BSNL/ MTNL   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.                                                                            | Name of Company                                                                    | AIR/DD                                                                             | Place                                                                              | State/UT                                                                           |
| 1                                                                                  | BSNL                                                                               | DD                                                                                 | Chennai                                                                            | Tamilnadu                                                                          |
| 2                                                                                  | BSNL                                                                               | DD                                                                                 | Vizag                                                                              | Andhra Pradesh                                                                     |
| 3                                                                                  | BSNL                                                                               | DD                                                                                 | Bhopal                                                                             | Madhya Pradesh                                                                     |
| 4                                                                                  | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Ahmedabad                                                                          | Gujarat                                                                            |
| 5                                                                                  | BSNL                                                                               | DD                                                                                 | Shimla                                                                             | Himachal Pradesh                                                                   |
| 6                                                                                  | BSNL                                                                               | Radio Kashmir                                                                      | Srinagar                                                                           | Jammu & Kashmir                                                                    |
| 7                                                                                  | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Chittorgarh                                                                        | Rajasthan                                                                          |
| 8                                                                                  | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Kolkata                                                                            | West Bengal                                                                        |
| 9                                                                                  | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Jaipur                                                                             | Rajasthan                                                                          |
| 10                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Yavatmal                                                                           | Maharashtra                                                                        |
| 11                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | DD                                                                                 | Udhampur                                                                           | Jammu & Kashmir                                                                    |
| 12                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Chandigarh                                                                         | Punjab & Haryana                                                                   |
| 13                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Nagpur                                                                             | Maharashtra                                                                        |
| 14                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Ratnagiri (Studio)                                                                 | Maharashtra                                                                        |
| 15                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | AIR, Ratnagiri (T/R site)                                                          | Maharashtra                                                                        |
| 16                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Mount Abu                                                                          | Rajasthan                                                                          |
| 17                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Thiruvananthapuram                                                                 | Kerala                                                                             |
| 18                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Raipur                                                                             | Chhattisgarh                                                                       |
| 19                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | LPTV                                                                               | Chiplun (Satara)                                                                   | Maharashtra                                                                        |
| 20                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | DD                                                                                 | Bhilwara                                                                           | Rajasthan                                                                          |
| 21                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | DDK                                                                                | Chandigarh                                                                         | Punjab & Haryana                                                                   |
| 22                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | DD, HPT                                                                            | Bikaner                                                                            | Rajasthan                                                                          |
| 23                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | LPTV                                                                               | Lunawada                                                                           | Gujarat                                                                            |
| 24                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | DDK                                                                                | Warangal                                                                           | Telangana                                                                          |
| 25                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Dharamshala                                                                        | Himachal Pradesh                                                                   |
| 26                                                                                 | MTNL                                                                               | DDK                                                                                | Mandi house                                                                        | Delhi                                                                              |
| 27                                                                                 | MTNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | AV Bhavan                                                                          | Delhi                                                                              |
| 28                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Mysore                                                                             | Karnataka                                                                          |
| 29                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | DD                                                                                 | Ajmer                                                                              | Rajasthan                                                                          |
| 30                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Dhule                                                                              | Maharashtra                                                                        |
| 31                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | AIR                                                                                | Vizag                                                                              | Andhra Pradesh                                                                     |
| 32                                                                                 | BSNL                                                                               | DDK                                                                                | Sagar                                                                              | Madhya Pradesh                                                                     |

ANNEXURE AS REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO  PARTS (c)  &  (d)  OF  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *243 FOR ANSWER ON 04.01.2018

ANNEXURE-D

| Station wise details of proposal from BSNL which are with BSNL for signing of agreement.   | Station wise details of proposal from BSNL which are with BSNL for signing of agreement.   | Station wise details of proposal from BSNL which are with BSNL for signing of agreement.   | Station wise details of proposal from BSNL which are with BSNL for signing of agreement.   | Station wise details of proposal from BSNL which are with BSNL for signing of agreement.   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.                                                                                    | Name of Company                                                                            | AIR/DD                                                                                     | Place                                                                                      | State/UT                                                                                   |
| 1                                                                                          | BSNL                                                                                       | LPTV                                                                                       | Lunawada                                                                                   | Gujarat                                                                                    |
| 2                                                                                          | BSNL                                                                                       | DDK                                                                                        | Warangal                                                                                   | Telangana                                                                                  |
| 3                                                                                          | BSNL                                                                                       | AIR                                                                                        | Dharamshala                                                                                | Himachal Pradesh                                                                           |
| 4                                                                                          | BSNL                                                                                       | AIR                                                                                        | Mysore                                                                                     | Karnataka                                                                                  |
| 5                                                                                          | BSNL                                                                                       | DD                                                                                         | Ajmer                                                                                      | Rajasthan                                                                                  |
| 6                                                                                          | BSNL                                                                                       | DDK                                                                                        | Sagar                                                                                      | Madhya Pradesh                                                                             |

## ANNEXURE AS REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) & (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *243 FOR ANSWER ON 04.01.2018

## ANNEXURE-E

| Station wise details of proposal from BSNL for sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure under examination.   | Station wise details of proposal from BSNL for sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure under examination.   | Station wise details of proposal from BSNL for sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure under examination.   | Station wise details of proposal from BSNL for sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure under examination.   | Station wise details of proposal from BSNL for sharing of Prasar Bharati Infrastructure under examination.   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.                                                                                                      | Name of Company                                                                                              | AIR/DD                                                                                                       | Place                                                                                                        | State/UT                                                                                                     |
| 1                                                                                                            | BSNL                                                                                                         | AIR                                                                                                          | Silchar                                                                                                      | Assam                                                                                                        |
| 2                                                                                                            | BSNL                                                                                                         | NABM, AIR & DD                                                                                               | Bhubaneswar                                                                                                  | Odisha                                                                                                       |
| 3                                                                                                            | BSNL                                                                                                         | DD                                                                                                           | Lunglei                                                                                                      | Mizoram                                                                                                      |
| 4                                                                                                            | BSNL                                                                                                         | AIR                                                                                                          | Hospet                                                                                                       | Karnataka                                                                                                    |
| 5                                                                                                            | BSNL                                                                                                         | AIR                                                                                                          | Dhule                                                                                                        | Maharashtra                                                                                                  |
| 6                                                                                                            | BSNL                                                                                                         | DMC                                                                                                          | Nainital                                                                                                     | Uttarakhand                                                                                                  |
| 7                                                                                                            | BSNL                                                                                                         | AIR                                                                                                          | Vizag                                                                                                        | Andhra Pradesh                                                                                               |
| 8                                                                                                            | BSNL                                                                                                         | AIR                                                                                                          | Sangli                                                                                                       | Maharashtra                                                                                                  |
| 9                                                                                                            | BSNL                                                                                                         | DMC                                                                                                          | Port Blair                                                                                                   | Andaman & Nicobar Islands                                                                                    |
| 10                                                                                                           | BSNL                                                                                                         | AIR                                                                                                          | Hamirpur                                                                                                     | Himachal Pradesh                                                                                             |
| 11                                                                                                           | BSNL                                                                                                         | DMC                                                                                                          | Karad                                                                                                        | Maharashtra                                                                                                  |
| 12                                                                                                           | BSNL                                                                                                         | DMC                                                                                                          | Phaltan                                                                                                      | Maharashtra                                                                                                  |
| 13                                                                                                           | BSNL                                                                                                         | DMC                                                                                                          | Khed                                                                                                         | Maharashtra                                                                                                  |

Note:

- (i) NABM stands for National Academy of Broadcasting and Multimedia.
- (ii) DMC stands for Doordarshan Maintenance Centre.