About All India Radio
All India Radio is a national service planned, developed and operated by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting under the Government of India. Sound broadcasting started in India in 1927 with the proliferation of private radio clubs. The operations of All India Radio began formally in 1936, as a government organisation, with clear objectives to inform, educate and entertain the masses.When India attained Independence in 1947, AIR had a network of six stations and a complement of 18 transmitters. The coverage was 2.5% of the area and just 11% of the population. Rapid expansion of the network took place post Independence. AIR today has a network of 215 broadcasting centres with 144 medium frequency (MW), 54 high frequency (SW) and 139 FM transmitters. The coverage is 91.42% of the area, serving 99.13% of the population. AIR covers 24 Languages and 146 dialects in home services. In External services, it covers 27 languages, 17 national and 10 foreign languages.