Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch today 91 FM transmitters scattered across 18 States and two Union Territories, boosting FM radio connectivity in border regions and aspirational districts.

According to PTI, the effort is centred on aspirational districts and border communities.

Radio services will reach an extra two crore  (20 million) people who did not previously have access to the medium, with coverage expanding to approximately 35,000 square kilometres.

The extension comes just two days before the 100th episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’, the prime minister’s monthly radio show.

The 91 new 100 W FM transmitters were installed in 84 districts across Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Ladakh, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

“The Prime Minister has been a firm believer in the important role which radio plays in reaching out to the masses,” an official government statement said.

It added the Prime Minister had started the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme to harness the unique strength of the medium to reach out to the widest possible audience. The 100th episode of the programme is scheduled to be aired on Sunday.