The FM licence given to Kantipur FM to operate a 1000 MHz radio station by Information and Communication Minister Java Prakash Gupta is said to have carried a price tag of Rs 20 million. The deal was clinched by Minister Gupta in New Delhi, where he was on the pretext of a personal visit.

Kantipur FM will now be operating an FM radio together with Times of India\'s Times FM in east Nepal. The transmitter will be installed at Bhedetar of Dhankuta district. Times FM is the same radio station that Sushma Swaraj, the former [Indian] Information and Broadcasting Minister, blamed for causing cultural distortion and banned from operating in India. But Nepal\'s Information and Communication Minister Gupta, greedy for Rs 20 million, has given the Times FM a licence to assault Nepali culture. Several Nepali FM companies, including Sagarmatha FM, have been waiting for the past 4-5 years for a licence to increase their broadcast capacity. But what is surprising is that a company like Times FM, which has been banned in both India and Bangladesh, has been given a licence to operate in Nepal.