I&B Ministry
For broadcast industry, question is who will head I&B ministry
MUMBAI: With the elections driving a stake through the NDA’s heart and taking the Congress off the life support system it had been on for several years now, attention will now be on who will be the next PM and of course who will hold the crucial portfolios of finance, industry, information and broadcasting, communications, energy and petroleum.
For the broadcasting, cable TV, advertising, print media and telecom sectors what will weigh heavily are the I&B and communications portfolios.One player that has a large stake in the convergence game has already started lobbying for the the communications ministry to take centre stage and positioning it as the more crucial of the two ministries. The player has for long been talking about a convergent India and has actually been suggesting that the two ministries be merged.
However, indiantelevision.com believes that the two ministries should be maintained as separate entities. Among the names being mentioned for the I&B ministership is former incumbent Jaipal Reddy (whose Broadcasting Bill is still gathering dust).
Another possibility is Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad who is another person with experience in the I&B ministry (he held the portfolio in eighties). Or the mantle might well fall on the firebrand Renuka Chowdhary.
If the Congress decides to opt for a face from the entertainment industry, there are a number of names that could figure. There is faded Hero Number 1 and “Virar ka Chokra” Govinda or former screen siren Jayaprada. There is of course the many time-MP and actor Sunil Dutt, which is a name that one broadcast industry head honcho suggested as a possible choice.
Of course all this must remain in the realm of speculation for the present.
But whoever does take up the I&B minister’s post, he /she will have a lot of unfinished business to deal with, the most vexing being the stalled rollout of conditional access in the country. Will it be scrapped (after all the Congress had opposed it) is a question that is of concern to the cable fraternity in particular.
With the Left having a major say in the new political dispensation, the fear among many in the industry is that the reforms process while not being jettisoned, will likely slow down.
What that might well mean is that demands for relaxation is foreign shareholding norms for news entities from the current 26 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) would not be entertained at least for the near term.
More direct issues will be those like content regulation and framing norms for downlinking that have been priority issues for the government in the recent past.
All this of course will follow after the I&B ministry has a head in place. The answer to that might take a few more days though.
I&B Ministry
CBFC speeds up film certification; average approval time cut to 22 days
Over 71,900 films cleared in five years as digital system shortens approval timelines
MUMBAI:Â The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has significantly reduced the time taken to certify films, with the average approval timeline now down to 22 working days for feature films and just three days for short films.
Operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the statutory body certifies films for public exhibition in line with the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024. The rules prescribe a maximum certification period of 48 working days, though the adoption of the Online Certification System has sharply accelerated the process.
Over the past five years, from 2020-21 to 2024-25, the board certified a total of 71,963 films across formats. Of these, the majority fell under the U category with 41,817 titles, followed by UA with 28,268 films and A with 1,878 films. No films were certified under the S category during the period.
Film approvals have also steadily risen in recent years. The CBFC cleared 8,299 films in 2020-21, a figure that peaked at 18,070 in 2022-23 before settling at 15,444 films in 2024-25. During the same period, 11,064 films were certified with cuts or modifications.
Despite the high volume of certifications, outright refusals remain rare. Only three films were denied certification over the last five years, with one refusal recorded in 2022-23 and two in 2024-25.
The board may recommend cuts or modifications if a film violates statutory parameters relating to the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, defamation, contempt of court or incitement to an offence.
Filmmakers can challenge CBFC decisions in court. Data shows that such disputes remain limited but have seen some fluctuation. Between 2021 and 2025, a total of 21 certification decisions were challenged before High Courts, with the number rising to 10 cases in 2025.
Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan shared the data. The question was raised by Mallikarjun Kharge.
With faster timelines and a largely digital workflow, the certification process appears to be moving at a far brisker pace, signalling a shift towards quicker clearances for India’s growing film output.
