All India Radio or Akashavani, as it is often called, is a national service planned, developed and operated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, with a clear aim of informing, educating and entertaining the masses and to reach out to the every corner of inhabited land in this vast country called India.
Started formally in 1936 and from a network of six stations and a complement of 18 transmitters in 1947, AIR had grown in to one with 214 broadcasting centers equipped with 143 medium frequency (MW), 54 high frequency (SW) and 139 FM transmitters, covering 91.37% of the area and serving almost all of India’s population.
AIR covers 24 languages and 146 dialects in home services. Its external services encompass 27 languages, which include 17 national and 10 foreign languages.
