GECs
Maharashtra govt. waives entertainment tax on new multiplexes as sop to exhibitors
The two-day Entermedia 2001 conference was flagged off today in Mumbai by chief minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh who announced that the state government would not levy entertainment tax on new multiplexes that came up in Maharashtra for the first three years of their operations. Further, 75 per cent of the entertainment tax for the next two years would be waived, Deshmukh said.
Among the issues that were covered during the first day’s session were – future opportunities for cinema in India; television broadcasting and distribution; the new age of radio; Internet and broadband and financing in the entertainment industry.
CINEMA: The key issue that was exercising the panel was the rampant piracy witnessed in India. The matter spilled over into the next session on television broadcasting when filmstar-producer Aamir Khan said big MSOs were in fact encouraging cable piracy by refusing to clamp down on erring suboperators. The incentives announced by the government for multiplexes led to complaints from single screen theatre owners that they should also be given some benefits.
FM RADIO: The main conclusions that came out of the discussion was that government policies and regulation mean that investments into FM radio, unlike the case abroad, are substantial. The conclusion was that only a few players with extremely deep pockets would be survive at the end of the day. A hurdle to the rollout of a range of FM services is the legislation that states that one company can only own one frequency per city.
On the plus side, the panelists agreed that FM radio was a market opportunity waiting to be exploited. Globally, ad spend on radio has grown twice as fast as television. Further abroad radio attracted 10-12 per cent of ad spend while in India, of a total ad spend of Rs 50,000 million only 2 per cent or 1000 million was the spend on radio.
The key advantages of radio are that it is seen as local / city-centric / dynamic.
And the content driver for FM at least in the initial phases? Music.
BROADBAND: The conclusion Broadband is a long way off in India for certain as some statistics show. If movies are to be shown over the Internet a download speed of a minimum of 400 kbps is required. The reality. The national average of connectivity is 1 kbps. And the television / PC ratio – 40:1.
What is a practical possibility is that digital integration across government, corporate, media and entertainment sectors.
FINANCING: The focus was on corporate financing in the film industry. And the conclusion. There was no way that financial institutions could finance films unless corporate structures were put in place. Consolidate or perish is the hard reality that merchant bankers offer budding filmmakers.
GECs
Sahara One reports financial results, notes director exit and business realignment
Muted revenues, steady expenses and strategic adjustments shape company’s current phase
MUMBAI: In a tale where the sands seem to be slipping faster than they can be gathered, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited has reported another quarter of wafer-thin income and widening losses, even as a boardroom exit adds to the unease.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board, in a meeting held on April 4, approved its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The numbers paint a stark picture. Total income for the quarter stood at just Rs 0.13 lakh, unchanged sequentially and sharply down from Rs 0.26 lakh a year earlier.
Losses, meanwhile, deepened. The company posted a net loss of Rs 24.16 lakh for the quarter, compared to Rs 18.81 lakh in the June quarter and Rs 39.69 lakh in the same period last year. For the six months ended September 2025, the cumulative loss stood at Rs 39.69 lakh, while the full-year loss for FY25 was reported at Rs 60.72 lakh.
Expenses continued to outweigh income by a wide margin. Total expenses for the quarter came in at Rs 24.30 lakh, led by employee benefit costs of Rs 6.51 lakh and other expenses of Rs 17.78 lakh. Earnings per share remained in the red at Rs (0.11) for the quarter.
The balance sheet reflects a company with significant assets on paper but limited operational momentum. Total assets stood at Rs 23,065.57 lakh as of September 30, 2025, broadly unchanged from March 2025. Equity share capital remained steady at Rs 2,152.50 lakh, while total equity was reported at Rs 18,004.85 lakh.
Cash and cash equivalents saw a modest uptick to Rs 6.75 lakh from Rs 4.68 lakh earlier, supported by a positive operating cash flow of Rs 180.01 lakh for the period.
Yet, beneath these numbers lies a more complex narrative. The company’s auditors flagged their inability to obtain sufficient evidence to form a conclusion on the financial statements, citing lack of access to records. They also raised concerns over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, pointing to insufficient funds, delayed recoveries, and stalled content investments.
Adding to the governance overhang, the company disclosed that Rana Zia has resigned as whole-time director, effective October 16, 2025, citing other professional commitments. The resignation, noted and accepted by the board, also brings an end to her role across company committees.
Regulatory pressures continue to loom large. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already initiated penal actions for non-compliance with listing norms, with trading in the company’s shares remaining suspended. There is also a risk of promoter demat accounts being frozen.
Legacy legal issues remain unresolved. A substantial deposit of Rs 694,027.88 thousand linked to the long-running OFCD dispute involving Sahara group entities is still under the purview of the Supreme Court of India. Restrictions on asset disposal continue to weigh on the company’s financial flexibility.
Operationally, challenges persist across multiple fronts. Advances worth Rs 1,92,916 thousand given for film content remain stuck, with delays in project completion and uncertain recoverability. The company’s YouTube channel, despite being operational, has generated no revenue for over three years due to compliance lapses. In a further twist, management has indicated that revenues may have been fraudulently diverted through unauthorised changes to its AdSense account, with a police complaint in the works.
There are also missed revenue opportunities. Television content rights continue to be used by a related party despite the expiry of the licence agreement, with fresh negotiations still underway.
For now, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited appears caught between legacy disputes and present-day operational hurdles. As losses linger and governance questions mount, the road to recovery looks less like a sprint and more like a slow trudge through shifting sands.
