Ahead of a key Group of Ministers meeting on Friday on making public broadcaster Prasar Bharati financially viable, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi on Wednesday denied moves to impose any licence fee or cess on radio and TV sets.

"I emphatically and categorically deny that there is any plan to impose licence fee or cess either on radio or on TV sets," he said, adding that there was no such proposal by his ministry.

The meeting is being held amidst reports that various proposals it would consider included slapping an annual licence fee of Rs 500 on TV viewers and a one-time cess on those buying colour TV sets.

The government has to take an early decision in the matter in view of the case coming up for further hearing in the Supreme Court early next month.

Prasar Bharati has submitted a set of proposals for the consideration of the GoM to jack up its resources as the public broadcaster, with 40,000 odd employees, is currently heavily dependent on grants from the government.

Its annual expenditure is nearly Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion), of which about Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) comes as grant-in-aid from the government.

The public broadcaster has asked for more grants from the government to carry out its social obligations in an effective manner like increasing number of programmes on subjects like education, health and environment among others.

The GoM has also to decide a number of demands of the employees including the one of treating them as government employees and keeping the assets of the Prasar Bharti with the fovernment through certain amendments of the Act.