Lok Sabha Question No. 2947 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-06
Subject: Implementation of BIND Scheme
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: Shri Raju Bista

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2947

## (TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2025)

## IMPLEMENTATION OF BIND SCHEME

## 2947. SHRI RAJU BISTA:

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

- (a)      the details of allocated funds utilized under the Broadcasting Infrastructure  Network  Development  (BIND)  scheme  during each of the last five years;
- (b)      the details of projects initiated under said scheme to improve Doordarshan and All India Radio infrastructure particularly in West Bengal along with their current status;
- (c)     the specific measures taken by the Government to enhance accessibility and transmission quality of Doordarshan and All India Radio in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts; and
- (d)      the  provisions  of  the  scheme  for  local  or  regional  content development to cater to linguistic and cultural diversity and if so, the details thereof?

(a) to (d)

Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development (BIND) scheme is a central sector scheme for development, modernization and upgradation of broadcasting infrastructure of Doordarshan and Akashvani in the country.

- It is a pan-India initiative covering all States, including West Bengal
- It includes modernization of transmitters and studios, expansion of DD Free Dish DTH platform and DD TV channels, and upgrading production & transmission facilities
- Focuses on content generation and innovation, and expanding the reach of public broadcasting in strategic, border, and LWE-affected areas
- ₹450  crore  has  been  earmarked  for  content  development  and innovation across India for the period 2021-2026
- Projects taken up in West Bengal under the scheme in Annexure-1
- Details of funds utilised under the scheme on Annexure-2

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

(DR. L. MURUGAN)

Some  of  the  new  age  initiatives  undertaken  to  expand  the  reach  of

Doordarshan and All India Radio include:

- Prasar Bharati's OTT platform 'WAVES' launched in 2024
- Multi-genre  digital  streaming  aggregator  platform  providing infotainment content in multiple Indian Languages
- Various channels of Doordarshan and AIR network are integrated into this platform
- DD Free Dish (Free-to-Air Direct-To-Home)
- Grown significantly from 104 channels in 2019 to 510 channels at present
- Includes 92 private channels, 50 Doordarshan channels, and 320
- educational channels.
- 48 Akashvani radio channels, including FM Gold, Rainbow, and Vividh Bharati, are available

By  serving  Indian  audiences,  including  significant  viewership  in  rural areas, these contribute to wider access to news, information, educational programming and also private channels.

Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Kolkata is equipped with a state-of-the-art studio facility for programme production. In addition, DDK Shantiniketan and  DDK  Jalpaiguri  have  functional  studio  centres  that  cater  to  the production of local content.

Similarly,  apart  from  Akashvani  Kolkata,  AIR  stations  at  Siliguri, Kurseong, and Darjeeling are equipped with studio facilities to produce local and regional content. *****

## Projects taken up under BIND Scheme in West Bengal:

| Organisation          | Project Description                                                                                               |
|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| All India Radio (AIR) | Setting up of a 100 W FM Transmitter at Alipurduar                                                                |
| All India Radio (AIR) | Setting up of 1 kW FM transmitter at Kalimpong                                                                    |
| All India Radio (AIR) | Visual Radio System at Akashvani Kolkata                                                                          |
| All India Radio (AIR) | Refurbishing of Studios at Kolkata and Kurseong                                                                   |
| All India Radio (AIR) | Replacement of cooling Plant at Kolkata, Kurseong and Siliguri                                                    |
| Doordarshan (DD)      | Modernization of Studio & Regional News Units (RNU) facilities at DDK Kolkata with state-of-art digital equipment |
| Doordarshan (DD)      | Modernization of Earth Station at Kolkata by augmentation & replacement of satellite broadcast equipment          |
| Doordarshan (DD)      | Modernization of program production facilities to High Definition (HD) by providing state-of-art equipment        |
| Doordarshan (DD)      | Augmentation of news production equipment, including 4G/5G mobile news gathering systems                          |

## Annexure-1

## Funds utilised under the scheme

| Financial Year   |   Funds utilized (in ₹ Crore) |
|------------------|-------------------------------|
| 2020-21          |                        201.65 |
| 2021-22          |                        159.95 |
| 2022-23          |                        163.75 |
| 2023-24          |                        344.57 |
| 2024-25          |                        213.72 |

## Annexure-2