Ministry of home affairs spikes FDI hike in telecom, media

Ministry of home affairs spikes FDI hike in telecom, media

Trai

Mumbai: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s proposal to increase foreign direct investment in the information and broadcasting and telecom sectors may never see the light of day.

The reason: the ministry of home affairs has not agreed to increase FDI caps and/or entry routes in respect to “aviation, telecom and information and broadcasting sectors on account of their sensitivity and security concerns," Minister of State for Home R P N Singh said in reply to a written question in parliament today, according to agency reports.

Singh said the Home Ministry has also raised issues pertaining to "investments of concern" and in respect of different categories of investors and investments; source of investments and instruments of investment.

Trai had earlier this year recommended hiking FDI caps for news television (TV) and private FM radio services to 49% from the current 26%. It had also proposed a FDI hike to 100 per cent (from 74 per cent currently) in distribution and carriage services such as direct-to-home (DTH) TV, cable networks and mobile TV.