I&B Ministry
I&B unlikely to nod in favour of ZeeBiz uplink
NEW DELHI: Even as Zee News, from the Zee Telefilms stable, maintained there was nothing “official” about it, media reports indicated that the government is no mood to allow the proposed ZeeBiz channel to use the uplinking permission granted to a regional language channel.
“We haven’t heard yet anything from the government related to the uplinking of ZeeBiz (a business channel being proposed by Zee),” Zee Telefilms’ news director Laxmi Goel told indiantelevision.com.
But he did admit that the company had sent in a proposal to the information and broadcasting ministry that ZeeBiz channel may be allowed to uplink from India, using an approval received earlier for another company channel.
A report in Hindu BusinessLine (HBL) today quoted a government source as saying, “But the vernacular channel did not take off and the company (Zee) wanted to use the same permission for its (proposed) business channel. The ministry has, however, not agreed to this proposal as the content and language are different.”
When contacted today, the ministry officials did not dish out any further information, on the issue, to indiantelevision.com. They offered that “the ZeeBiz file is still being studied”.
The HBL report had said that the launch of Zee’s proposed business channel seems to have hit a roadblock with the information and broadcasting ministry rejecting Zee Telefilms’ proposal of using an uplinking approval received earlier, for a regional channel, for this one.
The report further added that the channel would have to apply afresh conforming to the guidelines framed for news channels. The newspaper report quoted a government source as saying: “Uplinking for news has become a sensitive issue and only if a channel complies with the guidelines in both letter and spirit, we would give it permission to uplink from India.”
The issue of uplink of news channel had been pitchforked into limelight when the government had revise the guidelines, in August this year, after it felt that Star News had been violating the norms in `spirit’.
It may be added here that the government was literally forced to rework the uplink norms on being petitioned by the high-profile Indian Media Group, which also included the likes of Zee Telefilms and Aaj Tak, that Star and its owner Rupert Murdoch were making a “monkey” of the India laws.
Besides the business news channel, Zee Telefilms would also have to rework its structure for its flagship Zee News channel and bring down the foreign investment to 26 per cent. The government had given it one year’s time to comply with the uplinking norms. As on June 30, 2003, the company has a total foreign equity of 58 per cent, of which 26.98 per cent is held by foreign promoters, about 29.43 per cent stake is held by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), while the Indian promoters hold just 23.51 per cent, according to the HBL report.
Now that the uplink norms have been tightened and implementation is monitored in more stringent way, the circle seems to have come full for Zee Telefilms.
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.
