I&B Ministry
Government rules out FDI in FM sector
NEW DELHI: The move will disappoint private players, but the government has formally ruled out any possibility of foreign investment in the private FM radio sector.
“No,” was the cryptic reply from information and broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy to a question posed by indiantelevision.com, today, on whether the government would allow foreign direct investment in the sector.
One of the suggestions of the sector regulator, based on feedback from the stakeholders, was that the government could review the foreign investment norms for the FM radio sector.
At the moment, foreign investors are barred from this segment, while foreign financial institutions can invest in FM radio ventures as per Reserve bank of India guidelines pertaining to the sector.
The I&B ministry has also sent back its views on a set of suggestions on FM radio expansion to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), saying “certain points need to be discussed further.”
It is interesting to note that officially the government has not taken a view on Trai’s recommendations for either the FM radio sector or those pertaining to TV broadcast, DTH, conditional access, etc.
Speaking to indiantelevision.com on the sidelines of the Economic Editors’ conference here today, Reddy added that some other recommendations of the broadcast and cable regulator relating to FM radio are being discussed with Trai.
Asked whether the government would accept a Trai suggestion on migration of private FM radio players from a licence regime to revenue sharing, Reddy said, “All I can say at this moment is that it’s under consideration.”
According to Reddy, the ministry would try to get cabinet clearance on various issues relating to FM radio broadcasting in a couple of weeks.
“The second phase of expansion of FM radio is in a fairly advanced stage and we are likely to seek Cabinet approval (on some issues) in the next two weeks,” Reddy said.
In this connection, the ministry would also speak to a merchant banker to help it out with financial issues relating to the sector.
Pointing out that the merchant banker would be finalised over the “next few days,” Reddy said, “We want to avoid the financial pitfalls (faced by the earlier government) and the merchant banker would be able to guide us properly.”
The minister earlier had observed that despite the radio revolution being started by the previous government, certain policy decisions had impeded the growth of FM radio as well as community radio services.
With a view to kickstart the community radio services, which have failed to take off because of prohibitive policy guidelines, Reddy said the government is looking at “re-framing the guidelines” for such radio services.
“We are talking to other ministries like home and telecommunication, but we feel that the community radio guidelines need to rationalised as, at present, they are too restrictive,” Reddy explained.
The government is of the opinion that if the right type of investment climate is created, there is scope yet for about 400 and 4,000 private FM and community radio stations, respectively in the country.
I&B Ministry
India turns up the heat on piracy, orders Telegram to axe 3,142 channels and blocks 800 websites
New legal teeth, nodal officers and notices to intermediaries signal that the government is done playing nice with copyright thieves
NEW DELHI: India’s war on film piracy just got significantly more aggressive. The government has ordered Telegram to remove 3,142 channels distributing pirated content, blocked access to around 800 websites through internet service providers, and put the full weight of freshly sharpened legislation behind the crackdown. The message from New Delhi is unambiguous: the free ride for copyright thieves is over.
Minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan spelled out the legal architecture to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023, he said, now contains specific provisions designed to make piracy a genuinely painful proposition. Sections 6AA and 6AB prohibit unauthorised recording and transmission of films, with violations attracting a minimum of three months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3 lakh. At the upper end, offenders face three years behind bars and fines of up to 5 per cent of a film’s audited gross production cost — a figure that, for a big-budget production, could run into crores.
The legislation also gives the government powers to act against intermediaries hosting infringing content, by notifying them under Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and compelling takedowns and blocking actions. Under Section 79(3)(b), intermediaries are legally required to remove or disable access to unlawful content upon receiving government notice or court orders. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, add a further layer of obligation, requiring platforms to ensure their services are not used to host or distribute content that violates copyright or proprietary rights.
To put enforcement into practice, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has established a dedicated institutional mechanism, complete with nodal officers to receive complaints. Copyright holders, authorised representatives or individuals can report piracy through a prescribed format, after which the government issues notices to intermediaries to disable access to infringing links.
The most headline-grabbing action came on 11 March 2026, when Telegram was formally notified under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and directed to remove and disable 3,142 channels found to be distributing unauthorised content belonging to OTT platforms, content owners and producers. The complaints that triggered the action came from OTT platforms including JioCinema and Amazon Prime Video, which alleged that copyrighted films, web series and other material were being shared on the platform on a massive scale. Telegram’s architecture, with its large file-sharing limits and capacity for user anonymity, has made it a favoured vehicle for exactly this kind of large-scale piracy.
The Telegram action sits within a broader pattern of escalating enforcement. Just days before the Lok Sabha statement, the ministry banned five OTT platforms for streaming obscene content: MoodXVIP, Koyal Playpro, Digi Movieplex, Feel and Jugnu. In July 2025, the Centre ordered the blocking of 25 OTT platforms accused of streaming obscene, vulgar or pornographic material, a list that included ALTT, ULLU, Big Shots App, Desiflix, Boomex, Navarasa Lite, Gulab App, Kangan App, Bull App, Jalva App, ShowHit, Wow Entertainment, Look Entertainment, Hitprime, Feneo, ShowX, Sol Talkies, Adda TV, HotX VIP, Hulchul App, MoodX, NeonX VIP, Fugi, Mojflix and Triflicks.
Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provides the regulatory hook for those actions, prohibiting platforms from hosting content that is obscene, pornographic, invasive of privacy, gender-harassing, racially or ethnically objectionable, or that promotes hatred and violence.
For an industry that loses billions of rupees annually to piracy, the direction of travel is welcome. The question, as always, is not whether the laws exist, but whether the enforcement machinery can keep pace with the ingenuity of those determined to circumvent it. Three thousand channels down, and the pirates are already busy opening three thousand more.
