New Delhi | Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday inaugurate 91 FM transmitters spread across 18 states and two union territories, in a move that will boost FM radio connectivity in the border regions and aspirational districts.

An official statement said aspirational districts and border areas are at the centre of the endeavour.

Radio services will reach an additional two crore people who did not have access to the medium so far, with coverage further increasing in about 35,000 sq km area.

The expansion takes place two days before the landmark 100th episode of Mann ki Baat, the prime minister's monthly radio programme.

The 91 new 100 W FM transmitters have been installed in 84 districts with a special focus on enhancing coverage in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Ladakh and Andaman & 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 statement said.

It said 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.