A Comprehensive List Of All The FTA Channels In India

A Comprehensive List Of All The FTA Channels In India

Under the new TRAI regulations, a cable or DTH customer is entitled to 100 FTA or Free to Air channels as part of the basic pack, with a network connection cost of Rs. 130+GST. The latest free channels are added on a regular basis, and anybody with a DTH subscription may view the list of FTA channels that are free to broadcast.


The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has the power to remove or introduce FTA channels.

In this blog, we’ll take a look at all the FTA channels TRAI has to offer in 2021. However, before we get into the list, let’s first get a brief understanding of what FTA channels mean and how they work.

What Are FTA channels?

Free-to-air (FTA) facilities are television (TV) as well as radio channels that are telecasted in a clear (non – encrypted) manner. Anyone with the necessary equipment can see or hear the content with no need for a premium membership. This is traditionally transmitted on terrestrial radio waves and received via an antenna.

FTA additionally applies to networks and broadcasters that provide media for which no membership is needed, even if it is transmitted to the viewer/listener through another carrier that requires a membership, such as a cable television, the Internet, as well as satellite.

In certain geographic regions, these carriers may also be necessary (or OPT) to offer FTA channels even though a premium membership is not present (given the equipment needed is still accessible). For example, FTA channels are extremely important as they are utilized for emergency broadcasts, equivalent to the 1-1-2 (112) emergency number offered by mobile phone companies and distributors in certain areas.

On the other hand, free-to-view (FTV) programming is typically available without the need for a membership, but it would be digitally encrypted and might even be geographically limited.

Free-to-air television is frequently utilized for worldwide broadcasting, making it a visual counterpart to shortwave radio. Most FTA merchants provide free-to-air channel listings and material accessible for free-to-air use throughout North America.

How FTA Channels Will Work

According to TRAI’s new guidelines, a cable or DTH customer is entitled to 100 FTA or Free to Air channels as part of the basic pack, which needs to be at or above Rs 130 (plus GST).

If the customer has only picked 60 FTA or Free to Air channels, they can add 40 more to complete the list. Nevertheless, if the user selects pay channels, an additional fee will be charged, as decided by the broadcaster as well as the cable operator.

According to TRAI, adding more channels will cost Rs 25 for every 20 channels that the customer chooses.

FTA Channels List In India

Approximately 600 FTA television stations and 180 radio channels are transmitted via Ku-band as well as c-band transmitters on the INSAT-4B and GSAT-15 satellites, which covers India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and portions of Afghanistan as well as Myanmar.

In India, the programs are offered as DD Direct Plus/DD Free Dish by Doordarshan, India’s public broadcaster, as well as other Indian commercial broadcasters. ABS Free Dish from the ABS2 satellite allows one to get free-to-air local TV channels using just a tiny DTH antenna as well as a free-to-air set-top box.

We have provided a collection of free air channels available in India that you may pick from based on your needs, which are categorised based on various service providers.

Tata Sky

One of the top DTH providers, Tata Sky offers 161 FTA channels that you can subscribe to, which we’ve listed below:

Telugu Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
10 TVCh. 1467
Aradana TVCh. 1492
Bhakti TVCh. 1490
Hindu DharmamCh. 1494
HM TVCh. 1465
NipunaCh. 1480
Studio YuvaCh. 1423
Subhavaartha TVCh. 1491
SVBCCh. 1499
Swara SagarCh. 1493
T NewsCh. 1462
Telugu Naaptol – FreeCh. 1419
V6 NewsCh. 1463
VidyaCh. 1479

Music

Channel NameChannel Number
9X JalwaCh. 830
9XMCh. 809
B4U MusicCh. 822
E24Ch. 813
MastiiiCh. 825
ShowboxCh. 835

Marathi Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
9X JhakaasCh. 1276
ABP MajhaCh. 1255
Fakt MarathiCh. 1220
Jai MaharashtraCh. 1262
LokshahiCh. 1265
Saam TVCh. 1261
Shemaroo Marathi BanaCh. 1230
TV9 MarathiCh. 1263

Punjabi Regional

Channel Number

Channel Name
9X TashanCh. 1939
ANB NewsCh. 1927
India News PunjabCh. 1923
Living India NewsCh. 1928
Pitaara TVCh. 1911
PTC GoldCh. 1912
PTC PunjabiCh. 1906

Spiritual

Channel NameChannel Number
AasthaCh. 1055
Aastha BhajanCh. 1077
AwakeningCh. 1084
Disha TVCh. 1058
DivyaCh. 1083
Ishwar TVCh. 1068
Jinvani ChannelCh. 1066
MH One ShraddhaCh. 1061
Paras TVCh. 1059
Peace of MindCh. 1065
Sadhna TVCh. 1063
SanskarCh. 1057
Satsang TVCh. 1073
Shubh TVCh. 1074
Subharti TVCh. 1082
VedicCh. 1078

Bengali Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
ABP AnandaCh. 1360
Enterr10 BanglaCh. 1322
Republic BanglaCh. 1367
Sun BanglaCh. 1317
TV9 BanglaCh. 1366

Gujarati Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
ABP AsmitaCh. 1728
Gujarat Samachar TVCh. 1721
India News GujaratCh. 1732
Sandesh NewsCh. 1722
VTV GujaratiCh. 1729

Hindi News

Channel NameChannel Number
ABP GangaCh. 1127
ABP NewsCh. 504
APN NewsCh. 542
Bharat SamacharCh. 559
Hindi KhabarCh. 557
India NewsCh. 522
India News HaryanaCh. 1924
India TVCh. 514
India VoiceCh. 551
Janta TVCh. 1925
JantantraCh. 568
Khabrain Abhi TakCh. 563
MH One NewsCh. 1926
Network10Ch. 567
News 1 IndiaCh. 553
News 24Ch. 516
News India 24X7Ch. 562
News LiveCh. 1973
News NationCh. 523
News State MP CGCh. 1165
News11 BharatCh. 552
R BharatCh. 521
SamayCh. 566
Sudarshan NewsCh. 534
Swaraj Express SMBCCh. 1166
Total TVCh. 527
TV9 BharatvarshCh. 524

Malayalam Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
Amrita TVCh. 1817
Asianet NewsCh. 1841
Manorama NewsCh. 1843
Mazhavil ManoramaCh. 1819
Naaptol MalayalamCh. 1823
Twenty fourCh. 1854

Hindi Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
Anjan TVCh. 178
B4U BhojpuriCh. 1120
Bansal NewsCh. 1162
Bhojpuri CinemaCh. 1119
DishumCh. 1103
Enterr10 RangeelaCh. 1104
First India RajasthanCh. 1182
IBC 24Ch. 1161
India News MP CHCh. 1164
India News RajasthanCh. 1183
India News UP UKCh. 1136
INH 24X7Ch. 1163
Mango BhojpuriCh. 1122
News State UP UttarakhandCh. 1137
Oscar Movies BhojpuriCh. 1118
Sadhna News MP CGCh. 1168
Sadhna Plus NewsCh. 1138

Tamil Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
Captain NewsCh. 1567
SVBC 2Ch. 1599
Tamil Naaptol – FreeCh. 1525
Vasanth TVCh. 1530
Vendhar TVCh. 1536
Sathiyam TVCh. 1565
Puthiya ThalaimuraiCh. 1556
News JCh. 1568
News 7 TamilCh. 1560
God TVCh. 1886
Kalvi TVCh. 1554
Madha TVCh. 1590
Malaimurasu SeithigalCh. 1566
Music ZoneCh. 1547
Nambikkai TVCh. 1592

Kannada Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
Ayush TVCh. 1686
Dighvijay 24×7 NewsCh. 1659
Power TVCh. 1660
Public MusicCh. 1677
TV5 KannadaCh. 1657
TV9 KannadaCh. 1653

Hindi Movies

Channel NameChannel Number
B4U KadakCh. 346
B4U MoviesCh. 352
Bflix MoviesCh. 367
Cinema TV India – FreeCh. 358
DhinchaakCh. 375
Enterr10 MoviesCh. 366
Wow Cinema OneCh. 365

Odia Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
Kalinga TVCh. 1777
Kanak NewsCh. 1774
ManjariCh. 1760
Nandighosha TVCh. 1779
OTVCh. 1771
Prameya News 7Ch. 1778

Hindi Entertainment

Channel NameChannel Number
DangalCh. 177
Kashish NewsCh. 1139
Shemaroo TVCh. 181

Knowledge & Lifestyle

Channel NameChannel Number
Food FoodCh. 768

News

Channel NameChannel Number
Mantavya NewsCh. 1734

Entertainment

Channel NameChannel Number
The QCh. 175

Others

Channel NameChannel Number
DY 365Ch. 1970
EzmallCh. 158
HornbillCh. 1978
IndradhanuCh. 1961
Kannada Naaptol – FreeCh. 1617
Naaptol – FreeCh. 156
NKTV 24X7Ch. 1977
Prag NewsCh. 1975
Protidin TimeCh. 1974
RangCh. 1952

Airtel DTH

The Airtel Digital TV FTA Pack has a validity period of 28 days. This pack includes up to 105 channels divided into 12 categories, which we’ve listed below along with the channel numbers.

India Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
MH OneCh. 566
PTC NewsCh. 563
PTC PunjabiCh. 555
TV9 GujaratiCh. 583
Sangeet BanglaCh. 736
Saam TVCh. 535
PTC ChakdeCh. 568
9X TashanCh. 569
Kolkata TVCh. 726
9X JhakaasCh. 544
VTV NewsCh. 585
MaiboliCh. 529
MBC TVCh. 606
TV9 MarathiCh. 539
Sandesh NewsCh. 586
DD BiharCh. 669
DD IndiaCh. 150
DD RajasthanCh. 348
DD UPCh. 349
DD GirnarCh. 589
DD KisanCh. 152
Chardikla Time TVCh. 557
Fakt MarathiCh. 530
Kanak NewsCh. 604
Bhojpuri CinemaCh. 661
Kalinga TVCh. 605
DD BharatiCh. 151
DD PunjabiCh. 572
DD UrduCh. 626
DD SahyadriCh. 548
DD North EastCh. 647
DD OdiaCh. 617
DD BanglaCh. 739
DD KashirCh. 627

South Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
DD ChandanaCh. 995
DD MalayalamCh. 871
DD PodhigaiCh. 820
DD SaptagiriCh. 947
GOD TVCh. 684

Lifestyle & Education

Channel NameChannel Number
Home Shop 18Ch. 122
Fashion TVCh. 416

Music

Channel NameChannel Number
9XMCh. 484
E24Ch. 490
9X JalwaCh. 492
Dhoom MusicCh. 735
B4U MusicCh. 486
Zee ETC BollywoodCh. 487
MastiiiCh. 488

Hindi Movie

Channel NameChannel Number
Zee ActionCh. 216
B4U MoviesCh. 226
Wow CinemaCh. 221

English News

Channel NameChannel Number
Russia TodayCh. 396
WIONCh. 386
BTVICh. 384
Republic TVCh. 376

News

Channel NameChannel Number
DD NewsCh. 345
India NewsCh. 322
India TVCh. 315
News 24Ch. 323
Zee NewsCh. 311
ABP NewsCh. 309
IBC 24Ch. 342
News NationCh. 321
Sudarshan NewsCh. 327
TV 24Ch. 369

DishTV

DishTV is one of the most popular DTH network providers and as per TRAI’s regulations, they provide multiple FTA channels as well.

Hindi Entertainment

Channel NameChannel Number
DD BharatiCh. 197
DD RetroCh. 191
DD NationalCh. 193
Shemaroo TVCh. 139
DD UrduCh. 213
DangalCh. 119
Big MagicCh. 118
Abzy CoolCh. 122

Hindi Movie

Channel NameChannel Number
B4U KadakCh. 4044
B4U MoviesCh. 360
Enterr10Ch. 407
Manoranjan TVCh. 4023
Movie PlusCh. 4021
Abzy MoviesCh. 345
Surya CinemaCh. 4003
DhinchaakCh. 413

Hindi Music

Channel NameChannel Number
9XMCh. 4034
B4U MusicCh. 4045
MastiiCh. 4020
MTV BeatsCh. 459
ZingCh. 451

Hindi National News

Channel NameChannel Number
Zee NewsCh. 651
Aaj TakCh. 655
Sudarshan NewsCh. 679
Live TodayCh. 4040
NDTV IndiaCh. 659
TV9 BharatvarshCh. 658
News 24Ch. 661
News18 IndiaCh. 663
Aaj Tak TezCh. 677
Zee HindustanCh. 654
India NewsCh. 665
DD NewsCh. 699
India TVCh. 653
News NationCh. 660
ABP NewsCh. 650

Devotional

Channel NameChannel Number
SanskarCh. 1067
Aastha BhajanCh. 1073
Lord BuddhaCh. 4014

Sports & Infotainment

Channel NameChannel Number
DD SportsCh. 639
DD KisanCh. 195

Regional

Channel NameChannel Number
B4U BhojpuriCh. 1560
Big GangaCh. 1552
Bhojpuri CinemaCh. 1554
Surya BhojpuriCh. 4015
Maha PunjabiCh. 4018
Manoranjan MoviesCh. 3997
Zee PunjabiCh. 1156
DD PunjabiCh. 1169
Chardikla TimeCh. 1152
DD ShimlaCh. 4079
Fakt MarathiCh. 1213
DD SahyadriCh. 1229
DD RajasthanCh. 245
DD GirnarCh. 1279
ABP GangaCh. 712
DD BiharCh. 1565
DD BanglaCh. 1429

Sun Direct

While Sun Direct may not have a big customer base like Tata Sky and DishTV, however, they do offer a myriad of FTA channels, which we’ve mentioned below.

News

Channel NameChannel Number
India TVCh. 586
Mathrubhumi NewsCh. 223
Manorama NewsCh. 224
Public TVCh. 277
R BharatCh. 877
SeithigalCh. 128
News 7 TamilCh. 134
Puthiya ThalaimuraiCh. 130
Thanthi TVCh. 132
HM TVCh. 185
Sakshi TVCh. 184
T NewsCh. 187
Nepal 1Ch. 693
ABP NewsCh. 571

Bengali

Channel NameChannel Number
ABP AnandaCh. 625
Sangeet BanglaCh. 627

Hindi

Channel NameChannel Number
9XMCh. 608

Devotional

Channel NameChannel Number
AasthaCh. 700
God TVCh. 710
SanskarCh. 708
Sri Sankara TVCh. 704
Angel TVCh. 710
Subhavaartha TVCh. 188
SVBCCh. 702

Gujarati

Channel NameChannel Number
TV9 GujaratiCh. 662

Kannada

Channel NameChannel Number
Asianet Suvarna NewsCh. 270
Kannada NaaptolCh. 263
KasthuriCh. 266
TV9 KannadaCh. 272

Malayalam

Channel NameChannel Number
Amrita TVCh. 216
Asianet NewsCh. 222
JaiHind TVCh. 220
Kairali TVCh. 214
Malayalam NaaptolCh. 217
Mazhavil ManoramaCh. 203
Media One TVCh. 226
Safari TVCh. 235
SHALOM TVCh. 706

Marathi

Channel NameChannel Number
ABP MajhaCh. 658

Odia

Channel NameChannel Number
DD OdiaCh. 630
OTVCh. 634

Punjabi

Channel NameChannel Number
DD PunjabiCh. 670
MH OneCh. 606
PTC NewsCh. 582
PTC PunjabiCh. 666

Tamil

Channel NameChannel Number
Captain NewsCh. 135
CAPTAIN TVCh. 119
DD PodhigaiCh. 121
IsaiaruviCh. 122
Kalaignar TVCh. 111
Makkal TVCh. 118
Murasu TVCh. 143
Tamil NaaptolCh. 125
Vasanth TVCh. 144

Telugu

Channel NameChannel Number
ABN Andhra JyothiCh. 186
DD SaptagiriCh. 189
DD YadagiriCh. 188
Telugu NaaptolCh. 171

Kashmir

Channel NameChannel Number
DD KashirCh. 680

HD

Channel NameChannel Number
Mazhavil Manorama HDCh. 856

This is a comprehensive list of 230+ free to air channels, and you may watch all of them for free. But, it’s important to note that TRAI can modify the list whenever they choose to. So, before making a decision, it’s always wise to first check with your DTH or cable provider.

Conclusion

We hope that this information will assist you in selecting the appropriate channel based on your state and the TRAI’s list of all free to air channels.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which cable TV channels are available for free?

All of the channels listed above are free to broadcast and may be viewed for free.

How many FTA channels are there in India?

In India, there are around 600 FTA channels that you may watch for free.

Can I watch Dish TV FTA channels without a recharge?

Unfortunately, you cannot watch FTA channels on any DTH provider without subscribing to at least their basic plan, which costs INR 130, including taxes.

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