India’s National Disaster Management Authority and its Digital Radio Mondiale chapter will test digital receivers in Gujarat to examine how they will perform during a disaster, according to radioandmusic.com.
“Gujarat is surrounded by sea thus has many fishermen so NDMA wants to use the receiver more specifically for them,” said DRM Consortium honorary Chairman Yogendra Pal. He says that digital transmitters are already functional there but that they haven’t yet decided the exact area in Gujarat where the tests will take place.
The receiver’s approximate cost is around Rs 5000 (about US $81), but Pal hopes that increasing popularity will lead to a price reduction.
According to reports, the Indian DRM chapter has also held discussions with car manufacturers, including Maruti, Toyota and Volkswagen. The group is also in talks with mobile and kitchen radio manufacturers.
All India Radio currently plans to employ 36 DRM high-end professional monitoring receivers that would be used in radio stations throughout the country.
