| Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
PRESS NOTE: FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) IN UP-LINKING OF TV
CHANNELS
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12:37 IST
At present, foreign direct investment (FDI) up to 49% is permitted
for
setting up hardware, Up-linking HUB, etc., subject to compliance
with the
Broadcasting Laws and Regulations and subject to the detailed guidelines
for Up-linking announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
from time to time.
Under the revised guidelines for Up-linking notified on 2.12.2005,
the
Government has decided to allow FDI in the Up-linking of TV Channels
as under:
FDI up to 49% would be permitted with prior approval of the Government
for setting up Up-linking HUB/ Teleports; FDI up to 100% would be
allowed with prior approval of the Government for Up-linking a Non-News
& Current Affairs TV Channel; FDI (including investment by Foreign
Institutional Investors (FIIs) up to 26% would be permitted with
prior approval of the Government for Up-linking a News & Current
Affairs TV Channel subject to the condition that the portfolio investment
in the form of FII/ NRI deposits shall not be “persons acting
in concert” with FDI investors, as defined in the SEBI (Substantial
Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997. The Company
permitted to uplink the channel shall certify the continued compliance
of this requirement through the Company Secretary at the end of
each financial year.
While calculating foreign equity of the applicant company, the
foreign
holding component, if any, in the equity of the Indian shareholder
companies of the applicant company will be duly reckoned on pro-rata
basis, so as to arrive at the total foreign holding in the applicant
company. However, the indirect FII equity in a company as on 31st
March of the year would be taken for the purposes of pro-rata reckoning
of foreign holdings.
FDI for Up-linking TV Channels will be subject to compliance with
the
Up-linking Policy of the Government of India notified by the Ministry
of
Information & Broadcasting from time to time.
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce
&
Industry, Press Note No. 01 (2006 Series), New Delhi, 17th January,
2006
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