Letter of Intent issued for 13 FM

New Delhi,Aug3: Three FM transmitters of All India Radio (AIR) are proposed to be set up during the Tenth Five-Year Plan in Kerala at Konni, Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin, the government said today.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi said the the implementation of the scheme would be dependent on availability of funds and sanctioning of staff.

The FM transmitter at Konni will have a capacity of 5 kW while those at Trivandrum and Cochin would have a capcity of 10 kW each, he said.

The minister said a 3 kW FM transmitter was commissioned at Manjerry in January this year. ''However, there is no proposal to set up AIR FM station at Malappuram as it is covered by Manjerry FM station,'' he added.

With regard to private FM radio, Mr Dasmunsi said letters of intent had been issued to private companies to set up 13 FM Radio channels at Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Cochin and Thrissur.

No private FM Radio channel is planned to be established at Manjerry and Malappuram, he added.

UNI