New Radio Rules To Make The Medium More Indian

Business Standard: Rupert Murdoch had recently said that he would be interested in entering Indian FM radio space in a big way if the rules are conducive. But it doesn’t look like the things are going the way he wanted.
According to the Business Standard story, “the single largest shareholder in a private FM radio company in India will have to own at least 50 per cent of the paid-up equity. The shareholder will also have to be an Indian entity for bringing in foreign equity. This has been incorporated in the bid document, yet to be released, to make sure Indian entities control FM radio companies. But this condition will not apply for banks and other lending institutions holding majority stake in a company.”
The government has also decided to allow only resident Indians as directors on the boards of FM radio companies. Observers say this is likely to hamper foreign investment in the sector. FM radio companies point out that when a foreign company invests in an entity, it will prefer to have its own representative on the board.

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