DTH
CCEA okays DD’s DTH foray; sanctions Rs 1.65 bn assistance
NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today evening okayed pubcaster Doordarshan’s forays into KU-band direct-to-home (DTH) television service and gave a nod to government assistance amounting to Rs 1,650 million in the first phase.
The assistance, according to government officials, would be disbursed over a period of three years starting the current financial year.
DD’s DTH service, which is slated to be launched around April next year, would not cost the subscriber any monthly subscription The one-time cost of installation of hardware would be approximately Rs 6,000, which is also expected to come down to Rs 3,000 as the service gains popularity, government officials said.
According to Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma, “We are happy that the government has approved the DTH proposal and we are on the road to launch the service by April.”
The CCEA also approved, in principle, a proposal that after three years DD can “go pay” with its DTH service to generate additional revenue for keeping up the service. By “going pay”, it means that the subscribers would have to pay a monthly subscription for the service as they would pay for any other DTH service in the country.
Initially DD’s DTH platform would have 30 channels with 20 of them being DD’s and the remaining free-to-air (FTA) satellite channels. “Many FTA channels have evinced interest to be on our DTH platform,” Sarma said.
The transponders on INSAT satellite has already been leased and the uplink infrastructure is expected to be ready by early next year. To cater to people not serviced by cable or terrestrial television services, DD’s DTH service would target the remote and hilly areas, but that would not mean neglecting urban and semi-urban areas.
DD also plans to distribute 10,000 TV sets and dish antennas free of cost to public institutes like village panchayats initially.
DTH Operator
JC Flowers withdraws NCLT plea against Dish TV over EGM demand
Move eases pressure on DTH firm as long-running shareholder dispute cools
MUMBAI: In a breather for Dish TV India, JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction has withdrawn its petition before the National Company Law Tribunal seeking directions to convene an extraordinary general meeting.
The development was disclosed by Dish TV in a regulatory filing, confirming that the petitioner chose to withdraw the case during a hearing at the Mumbai bench of the tribunal. A detailed order from the bench is still awaited.
The petition, originally filed under Sections 98 to 100 of the Companies Act, 2013, sought to push for an extraordinary general meeting to address governance issues at the company. The case had its roots in a prolonged shareholder tussle dating back to 2021, when Yes Bank, then the largest shareholder, was at odds with the promoter group led by Subhash Chandra over board reconstitution.
JC Flowers had stepped into the picture as an assignee of Yes Bank’s stressed assets, effectively continuing the legal push initiated earlier. The withdrawal now signals a pause, if not a closure, to that chapter of dispute.
While the reasons behind the withdrawal have not been formally detailed, the move reduces immediate legal pressure on Dish TV, which has been navigating both operational and regulatory challenges in recent years.
For now, the focus shifts back to the company’s business fundamentals, even as the legal dust settles, at least temporarily, on one of its more closely watched shareholder battles.
