NEW DELHI: Doordarshan will be holding its 21st e-auction for its free-to-air DTH platform Freedish on 12 August in an attempt to touch the target of 112 television channels in the next few months.

While Doordarshan has set a reserve price of Rs 3.7 crore per slot for the online e-auction, according to information available with Indiantelevision.com, the bid amount is said to have gone up to Rs 4.2 crore in earlier e-auctions.

However, DD sources refused to divulge the number of slots being auctioned to prevent bidders from forming a consortia to bid or resort to other malpractices.

DD sources also said that while Freedish may be encrypted to keep a tab on the number of subscribers, it would remain free-to-air.

The e-auction will be conducted by C1 India Pvt. Ltd., Noida on behalf of Prasar Bharati.   

The reserve price in the 15th e-auction was Rs 3 crore and was raised to Rs 3.7 crore in the 16th auction.

Currently, Freedish has 64 channels including its own channels, and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV.

The eligibility terms and conditions including other relevant details for this e-auction are displayed on DD's website- www.ddindia.gov.in. 

However, the participation amount (EMD) in the e-auction is Rs 1.5 crore, which has to be deposited in advance on or before 12 August evening along with a non-refundable processing fee of Rs 10,000 in favour of PB (BCI) Doordarshan Commercial Service, New Delhi.

Incremental amount for the auction will be Rs 10 lakh and the time for every slot e-auction will be of fifteen minutes duration.

Of the reserve price, Rs 1.1 crore will be deposited within one month of placement and another Rs 1.1 crore within two months along with service tax of 14 per cent on the bid amount.

The balance bid amount will be deposited within six months, failing which the reserve price will be forfeited. 

Applicants must provide details of the uplink and downlink permission documents received from the concerned Ministries with the applications to ensure they are not rejected. 

The demand drafts of unsuccessful bidders will be returned immediately or within a week after the e-auction process is completed.