| This is likely to end a long wait for Space TV, and
Star in particular, which has been in quest of a DTH licence since
2002. In between, the application of Space had to be made afresh in
2003 as the government felt that in the earlier version of Space TV,
the Indian partnership was more of a dummy.
The government had announced a set of DTH guidelines towards the
end of 2001 by which time quite a few interested players had already
got frustrated and abandoned their plans to make forays into the
DTH segment.
This included the Malaysia-based Measat, which had a memorandum
of understanding with Doordarshan for a DTH venture in the mid-1990s.
In January 2004, Tata Sons announced the formation of a joint venture
with the Star Group for launching a DTH television platform in India.
The announcement had stated that the Tata Group and Star Group looked
forward to building India’s largest digital television platform
and offering a range of channels including exclusive channels, with
interactive features and services.
The project cost is estimated to be Rs 16 billion ($1= Rs 43.75).
Information collated by indiantelevision.com indicates that the
I&B ministry had raised a series of objections on the Space
TV application even after the Tatas joined hands with the Rupert
Murdoch-controlled Star for a JV.
One of the many issues raised by the I&B ministry was that
in the Space TV project, cleared by other ministires, including
finance and home, the shareholders' agreement was in favour of Star,
which amounted to foreign control.
A government official told indiantelevision.com late this evening
that Space TV has written to them saying that "changes have
been made" in the company set-up in the line with the I&B
ministry's suggestions.
"Before a final clearance is given, it needs to be seen whether
Space TV has actually carried out those changes in letter and spirit
of the guidelines," the official added.
The Space TV case became so controversial that 37-odd questions
on the company has been asked to the present government by Members
of Parliament on the floor of the House, while recently about nine
MPs had written to the PMO on the issue.
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