Lok Sabha Question No. 269 (STARRED), answered on 2021-08-06
Subject: Discontinuation of Production of Programmes in Regional Stations
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: Abdul Majeed Ariff

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO.*269

(TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2021)

DISCONTINUATION OF PRODUCTION OF PROGRAMMES IN REGIONAL STATIONS

## *269. ADV. A.M. ARIFF:

Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to stop the production of programmes in different regional stations of All India Radio in Kerala and convert them to relay stations of Thiruvananthapuram station and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether the Government has taken any steps for withdrawing the decision of Prasar Bharati to close down the 200 kW Medium Wave Transmission Station in Alappuzha and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether  the  Government  will  consider  replacing  the  oldgeneration  transmitter  in  Alappuzha  Transmission  station with  new-age  DRM  transmitter  to  enhance  the  coverage,  if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and (d) the details of AIR stations in the country equipped with DRM transmitters and those functioning with old-age transmitters?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING; AND MINISTER OF YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)

(a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

***********************

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.*269  FOR  ANSWER  ON

06.08.2021 (a)  &  (b):  No,  Sir.    Prasar  Bharati  has  informed  that  it  has  not taken any such decision to stop the production of programmes by different  regional  stations  of  All  India  Radio  (AIR)  in  Kerala. There  is  also  no  proposal  to  convert  any  regional  station  in Kerala into a relay station of Thiruvananthapuram. Prasar Bharati is currently maintaining status quo with respect to the operation  of  200  KW  Medium  Wave  Transmitter  in Alappuzha which is currently relaying AIR, Thiruvananthapuram. A 5 KW FM transmitter has been installed at Alappuzha in 2019 which is also relaying the same service. (c) & (d): Keeping pace with modern technology, Prasar Bharati has introduced new modes of transmission across India.  Various AIR regional services now have a satellite footprint through 'DD FreeDish'  DTH  Satellite  Radio.  Several  local  and  regional  radio services  of  AIR,  including  AIR  channels  originating  from  all stations  in  Kerala  also  have  a  global  footprint  through  Prasar Bharati's App 'NewsOnAIR' available on 'Android' and 'IOS' and on newsonair.com website. Adoption of new-age Digital Radio transmitters is subject to final outcome  of  the  testing  and  evaluation  of  latest  digital  radio standard to be adopted by India.

There  are  35  Medium  Wave  and  3  Short  Wave  solid  state transmitters  which  are  additionally capable  of  operating  in Digital  Mode  based  on  the  DRM  standard.  There  are  93  analog Medium  Wave  and  9  analog  Short  Wave  transmitters  based  on outdated technology. The list of such transmitters is at Annexure-I and Annexure-II.

*****

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) & (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*269 FOR ANSWER ON 06.08.2021

## Annexure-I

## State wise List of DRM MW/SW Transmitters

| Sr. No.                | Place                  | State             | Power of Transmitter   |
|------------------------|------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|
| A. MW DRM Transmitters | A. MW DRM Transmitters |                   |                        |
| 1.                     | Vijayawada             | Andhra Pradesh    | 100 kW                 |
| 2.                     | Itanagar               | Arunachal Pradesh | 200 kW                 |
| 3.                     | Tawang                 | Arunachal Pradesh | 200 kW                 |
| 4.                     | Passighat              | Arunachal Pradesh | 200 kW                 |
| 5.                     | Dibrugarh              | Assam             | 300 kW                 |
| 6.                     | Guwahati 'B'           | Assam             | 20 kW                  |
| 7.                     | Patna                  | Bihar             | 100kW                  |
| 8.                     | Delhi (VB)             | Delhi             | 20 kW                  |
| 9.                     | Delhi 'A'              | Delhi             | 200 kW                 |
| 10.                    | Panaji                 | Goa               | 100 KW                 |
| 11.                    | Ahemdabad              | Gujarat           | 200 kW                 |
| 12.                    | Rajkot                 | Gujarat           | 300 KW                 |
| 13.                    | Rajkot                 | Gujarat           | 1000 kW                |
| 14.                    | Jammu                  | Jammu && Kashmir  | 300 kW                 |
| 15.                    | Ranchi                 | Jharkhand         | 100 kW                 |
| 16.                    | Bangalore              | Karnataka         | 200 kW                 |
| 17.                    | Dharwad                | Karnataka         | 200 kW                 |
| 18.                    | Jabalpur               | Madhya Pradesh    | 200 kW                 |
| 19.                    | Mumbai 'A'             | Maharashtra       | 100 kW                 |
| 20.                    | Mumbai 'B'             | Maharashtra       | 100 kW                 |
| 21.                    | Pune                   | Maharashtra       | 100 kW                 |
| 22.                    | Jalandhar              | Punjab            | 300 kW                 |
| 23.                    | Ajmer                  | Rajasthan         | 200 kW                 |
| 24.                    | Barmer                 | Rajasthan         | 20 kW                  |
| 25.                    | Bikaner                | Rajasthan         | 20 kW                  |
| 26.                    | Suratgarh              | Rajasthan         | 300 kW                 |

| Sr. No.   | Sr. No.             | Place               | State         | Power of Transmitter   |
|-----------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------|------------------------|
| 27.       | 27.                 | Chennai (VB)        | Tamil Nadu    | 20 kW                  |
| 28.       | 28.                 | Chennai 'A'         | Tamil Nadu    | 200kW                  |
| 29.       | 29.                 | Tiruchirapalli      | Tamil Nadu    | 100kW                  |
| 30.       | 30.                 | Lucknow             | Uttar Pradesh | 300 kw                 |
| 31.       | 31.                 | Varanasi            | Uttar Pradesh | 100 kW                 |
| 32.       | 32.                 | Kolkata A           | West Bengal   | 100 kW                 |
| 33.       | 33.                 | Kolkata B           | West Bengal   | 200 kW                 |
| 34.       | 34.                 | Chinsurah (Kolkata) | West Bengal   | 1000 kW                |
| 35.       | 35.                 | Siliguri            | West Bengal   | 200 kW                 |
| B.        | SW DRM Transmitters | SW DRM Transmitters |               |                        |
| 1.        | 1.                  | Bangaluru           | Karnataka     | 500 kW                 |
| 2.        | 2.                  | Delhi               | Delhi         | 100 kW                 |
| 3.        | 3.                  | Delhi               | Delhi         | 100 kW                 |

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) & (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *269 FOR ANSWER ON 06.08.2021 Annexure-II State-Wise List of Analogue MW/SW Transmitters

| S. N.              | Place              | State              | Power   |
|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|---------|
| A. MW Transmitters | A. MW Transmitters |                    |         |
| 1.                 | Cuddapah           | Andhra Pradesh     | 100 kW  |
| 2.                 | Vishakhapatnam     | Andhra Pradesh     | 100 kW  |
| 3.                 | Tezu               | Arunanchal Pradesh | 10 kW   |
| 4.                 | Ziro               | Arunanchal Pradesh | 1 kW    |
| 5.                 | Diphu              | Assam              | 1 kW    |
| 6.                 | Guwahati           | Assam              | 100 kW  |
| 7.                 | Kokrajhar          | Assam              | 20 kW   |
| 8.                 | Silchar            | Assam              | 20 kW   |
| 9.                 | Tezpur             | Assam              | 20 kW   |
| 10.                | Bhagalpur          | Bihar              | 20 kW   |
| 11.                | Darbhanga          | Bihar              | 20 kW   |
| 12.                | Ambikapur          | Chattisgarh        | 20 kW   |
| 13.                | Jagdalpur          | Chattisgarh        | 100 kW  |
| 14.                | Raipur             | Chattisgarh        | 100 kW  |
| 15.                | Panaji             | Goa                | 20kW    |
| 16.                | Ahwa               | Gujarat            | 1 kW    |
| 17.                | Bhuj               | Gujarat            | 20 kW   |
| 18.                | Himmatnagar        | Gujarat            | 1 kW    |
| 19.                | Rohtak             | Haryana            | 20 kW   |
| 20.                | Shimla             | Himanchal Pradesh  | 100 kW  |
| 21.                | Bhadrawati         | Karnataka          | 20 kW   |
| 22.                | Gulbarga           | Karnataka          | 20 kW   |
| 23.                | Mangalore / Udupi  | Karnataka          | 20 kW   |
| 24.                | Alappuzha          | Kerala             | 200 kW  |
| 25.                | Kozhikode          | Kerala             | 100 kW  |
| 26.                | Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala             | 20 kW   |
| 27.                | Thrissur           | Kerala             | 100 kW  |
| 28.                | Bhopal             | Madhya Pradesh     | 10 kW   |
| 29.                | Chhatarpur         | Madhya Pradesh     | 20 kW   |

|   S. N. | Place        | State          | Power   |
|---------|--------------|----------------|---------|
|      30 | Gwalior      | Madhya Pradesh | 20 kW   |
|      31 | Indore       | Madhya Pradesh | 200 kW  |
|      32 | Rewa         | Madhya Pradesh | 20 kW   |
|      33 | Jalgaon      | Maharashtra    | 20 kW   |
|      34 | Mumbai       | Maharashtra    | 50kW    |
|      35 | Nagpur       | Maharashtra    | 300 kW  |
|      36 | Parbhani     | Maharashtra    | 20 kW   |
|      37 | Ratnagiri    | Maharashtra    | 20 kW   |
|      38 | Sangli       | Maharashtra    | 20 kW   |
|      39 | Imphal       | Manipur        | 300 kW  |
|      40 | Nongstoin    | Meghalaya      | 1 kW    |
|      41 | Shillong     | Meghalaya      | 100 kW  |
|      42 | Tura         | Meghalaya      | 20 kW   |
|      43 | Williamnagar | Meghalaya      | 1 kW    |
|      44 | Aizawl       | Mizoram        | 20 kW   |
|      45 | Saiha        | Mizoram        | 1 kW    |
|      46 | Kohima       | Nagaland       | 100 kW  |
|      47 | Mon          | Nagaland       | 1 kW    |
|      48 | Tuensang     | Nagaland       | 1 kW    |
|      49 | Bhawanipatna | Odisha         | 200 kW  |
|      50 | Cuttack      | Odisha         | 300 kW  |
|      51 | Jeypore      | Odisha         | 100 kW  |
|      52 | Sambalpur    | Odisha         | 100 kW  |
|      53 | Dungarpur    | Rajasthan      | 1 kW    |
|      54 | Jodhpur      | Rajasthan      | 300 kW  |
|      55 | Kota         | Rajasthan      | 20 kW   |
|      56 | Udaipur      | Rajasthan      | 20 kW   |
|      57 | Gangtok      | Sikkim         | 20 kW   |
|      58 | Chennai      | Tamil Nadu     | 20 kW   |
|      59 | Coimbatore   | Tamil Nadu     | 20 kW   |
|      60 | Madurai      | Tamil Nadu     | 20 kW   |
|      61 | Tirunelveli  | Tamil Nadu     | 20 kW   |
|      62 | Tuticorin    | Tamil Nadu     | 200 kW  |
|      63 | Hyderabad    | Telangana      | 200 kW  |
|      64 |              |                | 20 kW   |
|      65 | Agartala     | Tripura        | 20 kW   |

|   S. N. | Place       | State                   | Power          |
|---------|-------------|-------------------------|----------------|
|      66 | Dharmanagar | Tripura                 | 1 kW           |
|      67 | Kavaratti   | UT( Lakshadweep Island) | 10 kW          |
|      68 | Port Blair  | UT(A & N Island)        | 100 kW         |
|      69 | Delhi       | UT(Delhi)               | 100 kW         |
|      70 | Kupwara     | UT(Jammu & Kashmir)     | 20 kW          |
|      71 | Naushera    | UT(Jammu & Kashmir)     | 20 kW          |
|      72 | Srinagar    | UT(Jammu &              | 300 kW         |
|      73 |             | Kashmir)                | 10 kW          |
|      74 | Diskit      | UT(Ladakh)              | 1 kW           |
|      75 | Drass       | UT(Ladakh)              | 1 kW           |
|      76 | Kargil      | UT(Ladakh)              | 200 kW         |
|      78 | Khaltsi     | UT(Ladakh)              | 1 kW           |
|      79 | Leh         | UT(Ladakh)              | 20 kW          |
|      80 | Nyoma       | UT(Ladakh)              | 1 kW           |
|      81 | Padum       | UT(Ladakh)              | 1 kW           |
|      82 | Tiesuru     | UT(Ladakh)              | 1 kW           |
|      83 | Pudducherry | UT(Pudducherry)         | 20 kW          |
|      84 | Agra        | Uttar Pradesh           | 20 kW          |
|      85 | Gorakhpur   | Uttar Pradesh           | 10 kW (Mobile) |
|      86 | Najibabad   | Uttar Pradesh           | 200 kW         |
|      87 | Prayagraj   | Uttar Pradesh           | 20 kW          |
|      88 | Rampur      | Uttar Pradesh           | 20 kW          |
|      89 | Almora      | Uttarakhand             | 1 kW           |
|      90 | Gopeshwar   | Uttarakhand             | 1 kW           |
|      91 | Pauri       | Uttarakhand             | 1 kW           |
|      92 | Pithoragarh | Uttarakhand             | 1 kW           |
|      93 | Uttarkashi  | Uttarakhand             | 1 kW           |

| B. SW Transmitters   | B. SW Transmitters   | B. SW Transmitters   | B. SW Transmitters   |
|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
| S. N.                | Place                | State                | Power                |
| 1.                   | Aizawl               | Mizoram              | 10 kW                |
| 2.                   | Gangtok              | Sikkim               | 10 kW                |
| 3.                   | Leh                  | Ladakh               | 10 kW                |
| 4.                   | Delhi                | Delhi                | 250kW                |
| 5.                   | Srinagar             | Jammu & Kashmir      | 50 kW                |
| 6.                   | Bangalore            | Karnataka            | 500 kW               |
| 7.                   |                      |                      | 500 kW               |
| 8.                   |                      |                      | 500 kW               |
| 9.                   | Jeypore              | Odisha               | 50kW                 |

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