It’s good news for music lovers with 120 new FM frequencies having been given to private players thus far under the phase II policy of the FM Radio Broadcasting.

Although successful bidders have been given 18 months, from the date of signing the grant of permission agreement, to make their stations operational, it seems new stations will begin to see the light of day in less than a year.

The story behind Kalatheera and its founder, Uday Kumar Shetty, is unusual too. Now Guru Uday Kumar, he was 23 when he began searching for a dance teacher after watching an Odissi dance performance in his hometown in 1990. He was mesmerised by the music, the costumes, the steps and gestures and entire dance event itself.

“It should take us six to 12 months to launch some of the new FM stations we have bagged,” said Kaushik Ghosh, vice president, marketing and international operations, Radio Mirchi.

The Times Group’s Entertainment Network (India) Limited, which operates FM radio broadcasting stations through the brand Radio Mirchi, bagged seven stations: Nagpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Surat, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The station is already operating in seven other cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Indore and Ahmedabad.