NEW DELHI: The Union cabinet has today allowed 26 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in digital news media. The Indian government has for long allowed up to 26 per cent FDI in print news media, and 49 per cent in news television. However, there was no clarity on which of these caps applied to digital media.
A large number of digital media houses, which run popular news websites but do not run any print newspaper, magazine or television channels, have begun operations in the country.
A press note issued by the government announcing the FDI rule said “the extant FDI policy provides for 49 per cent FDI under approval route in Up-linking of ‘News &Current Affairs’ TV Channels. It has been decided to permit 26 per cent FDI under government route for uploading/ streaming of News & Current Affairs through Digital Media, on the lines of print media.”
Today’s announcement clarifies that the FDI rules for these digital news media houses will be the same as that for print media companies. According to a Ficci-EY report released this year, digital media grew 42 per cent to reach a turnover of `16,900 crore in 2018.