Out of the Rs. 2539.61 crore cleared by the Indian government for investments in pubcaster Prasar Bharati, the plan is to pump in Rs. 950 crore in priority projects of AIR and Doordarshan with focus on expansion and strengthening of the FM radio network and mobile TV production facilities, which are to be completed on fast-track mode

The investment push, which is to be done till 2025-26, also envisages expansion of Dorrdarshan FreeDish capacity from existing 116 channels to about 250 channels for providing a rich and diverse bouquet of content.

Prasar Bharati, an autonomous body owns and manages Doordarshan and All India Radio networks.

FreeDish is Prasar Bharati’s free-to-air Direct to Home (DTH) platform, which has an estimated 43 million connections (as per FICCI and E&Y Report 2022) making it the largest DTH platform in India, a government statement said.

Viewers of FreeDish are not required to pay any monthly or annual charges for viewing channels on the platform and it has a rich bouquet of 167 TV channels consisting of 49 Doordarshan and Sansad channels, 77 private TV channels (11 GECs, 14 movie, 21 news, 7 music, 9 regional, 7 Bhojpuri, 1 sports, 5 devotional channels and three foreign channel), 51 educational channels and 48 radio channels of All India Radio.

Establishing a FreeDish disaster recovery facility to ensure uninterrupted DTH service in the event of disaster or natural calamity is also another goal of the infrastructure development and strengthening plans.

The government on January 4, 2023 approved the “Broadcast Infrastructure Network Development (BIND)” scheme with an outlay of Rs. 2539.61 crore for modernization, upgradation and expansion of All India Radio and Doordarshan for the five-year period ending 2025-26.

The plan aims at major upgradation to create better infrastructure and widen the public broadcaster’s reach in extremist-impacted, border and strategic areas. The plan aims at expansion of the FM network primarily in tier II & tier III cities with focus on left wing extremism-impacted and aspirational districts.

Amongst the other expansion and improvement plans the following are included:

# Increasing the AIR’s FM coverage in the country to 66.29 percent by geographical area and 80.23 percent by population, up from 58.83 percent and 68 percent, respectively.

# Increasing the coverage of AIR FM to 63.02 percent from the existing 48.27 percent at the Indo-Nepal border.

# Increasing the AIR FM coverage from 62 percent to 76 percent along the Jammu & Kashmir border.

# A 20 kW FM transmitter will be installed at a 300 m tower at Rameswaram to cover an area of 30,000 sq.km.

# Facelift of DD and AIR channels by installing latest broadcasting and studio equipment at Prasar Bharati facilities.

# Upgradation of earth stations at DDK Vijayawada and Leh to 24-hour channels as also upgrading and replacement of earth stations at DDK Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl, Itanagar, Agartala, Kohima, Imphal, Gangtok and Port Blair for uplinking HD TV channels.

# 28 regional Doordarshan channels to be migrated as HD programme production capable Kendras.

# 31 regional news units in the Doordarshan network to be upgraded and modernized with latest equipment for efficient news gathering.

# 41 FM transmitters of 10 KW and higher capacities besides hundred 100 watt transmitters for increasing FM coverage by more than 600,000 sq meter in the country primarily in tier-II and tier III cities.

# Automation and modernization of broadcast facilities of field stations for seamless and efficient production and transmission. This entails provision of automated playout facilities, newsroom computer systems for modern news production, file based workflow to cater to real time production editing and transmission, provision of the latest studio cameras, lenses, switchers, routers, etc. for state-of-the-art technology for field stations of DD across the country.

# Providing rich content, including in regional languages, with focus on entertainment, health, education, youth, sports and other public service messaging.

# Inducting new technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality for visually enriched program content generation.

# Upgradation of existing uplink stations with spectrum-efficient technology for efficient use of satellite transponders.

# Efficiency and transparency in governance with effective management of data flow in the AIR and DD networks.

# Free distribution of over 800,000 DD FreeDish receiver sets planned for remote, tribal, LWE and border areas to enable the audiences in these areas to access television and radio services.

Amongst the twin verticals of Prasar Bharati, AIR serves its listeners in country through 501 AIR Broadcasting Centers with 653 transmitters (122 Medium Wave, 7 Short Wave and 524 FM Transmitters) giving World Services, Neighbourhood Services, 43 Vividh Bharati channels, 25 Rainbow channels and 4 FM Gold channels.

Doordarshan serves viewers through 66 Doordarshan Kendras producing 36 DD channels, disseminated through various delivery platforms such as cable, DTH, IPTV, “NewsOnAIR” mobile app and various YouTube channels. DD India, the international channel showcasing India, has a global presence in 190+ countries on various platforms.