The regulator, TRAI announced its new recommendations pertaining to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the broadcasting sector.

Earlier the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had requested TRAI to review its recommendations dated 26th April, 2008 on Foreign investment in Broadcasting sector in the light of recent changes in FDI policy. The Consolidated FDI Policy dated 31st March 2010 issued by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) had come into effect since 1st April, 2010.

TRAI, after consulting with stakeholders has come out with the following recommendations:

 (a)       Foreign investment limit for the Broadcast carriage services i.e. DTH, IPTV, Mobile TV, HITS, Teleport and MSOs who are upgrading to digital & addressable environment would be 74%;

(b)        Foreign investment limit for LCOs would be 26%;

(c)        The Foreign investment limits would be 26% for News & Current Affairs TV Channels and FM Radio;

(d)       There will be no restriction on Foreign investment for uplinking and downlinking of TV channels other than News & Current Affairs TV channels; and,

(e)        All Foreign investment less than 26% would be through automatic route. Investments of 26% and above will require prior approval of the Government.