(3 April 2008 10:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Dish TV plans to raise Rs 7 billion in form of equity over six months even as it has scaled up its fund requirement to Rs 16 billion due to a rise in subsidy cost. Earlier the Zee Group's direct-to-home (DTH) service provider had said that it had an investment plan of Rs 11 billion.

Dish TV's current customer acquisition cost is Rs 2000, up from the third quarter cost of Rs 1880. "We aim to raise around Rs 7 billion as equity over the next six months. We are looking at various options and have not finalised on the instrument. Our total fund requirement will be Rs 16 billion. We will have 60 per cent equity and 40 per cent debt," says a source.

As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Dish TV is raising $100 million (Rs 4 billiion) as debt. Incidentally, Indivision Capital, the private equity arm of Kishore Biyani's Future Capital, withdrew its plans to invest Rs 2.5 billion for a 4.9 per cent stake.

Dish TV's gross registered subscriber base has crossed three million as on 31st March 2008. The net subscriber base stands at 2.5 million, after making adjustments for churned subscribers since the launch of the company three years back. "This compares very favorably with international norms wherein annual churn is in the 15-20 per cent range. These subscribers are spread over various packages that the company has on offer," Dish TV said in an official statement.