INS votes overwhelmingly in favour of raising FDI cap in Print Media to 49%

At the Executive Committee Meeting of INS held on July 29, called at the request of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, 22 of the 31 board members voted in favour of the higher FDI limit   

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | July 31, 2013

At an Executive Committee Meeting (ECM) of the INS (Indian Newspaper Society) held on Monday, July 29, 2013, an overwhelming majority of the board members present voted in favour of enhancing the FDI limit in Print Media from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.

It is reliably learnt that of the 31 board members present, 22 voted in favour of raising the FDI limit to 49 per cent, seven voted against, while two abstained from voting. Most of the large media houses present at the ECM voted in favour of the higher FDI limit, it is leant.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), which has begun the process of holding discussions with stakeholders on the subject of FDI in Print Media, had invited INS, through a letter dated June 27, 2013,  to attend a meeting on June 29, 2103, called by the I&B Minister. In response, INS pointed out that a two-day notice was too short for INS to carry out any purposeful consultations amongst its member publications and arrive at the industry point of view on an important subject such as FDI in print media.

INS had sought 30 days' time for holding wider consultations. Accordingly, the ECM was held on July 29 in New Delhi.

The Print Media business in India in the last few decades has grown exponentially and the prospects of further growth in the corning years are enormous. To sustain this growth, print media companies need an inflow of funds to expand and reach every comer of India. In this context, there is an urgent need for enhancing the FDI cap in print media from the existing 26 per cent to 49 per cent.

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