I&B Ministry
New DTH policy bonanza for operators likely by year-end
NEW DELHI: If all goes well, India’s DTH operators may have something to cheer about in the new year. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) wants an updated and tweaked policy to go for cabinet approval by the year end.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of CII Big Picture Summit 2018 here today, MIB Secretary Amit Khare said the new DTH policy is almost ready and the goal is to “send it for Cabinet approval” by December-end.
Explaining the rationale behind the timing, the senior government official said the interim or temporary licenses, being presently handed to some of the biggest DTH operators, will expire this year-end and that makes it necessary to close the issue as soon as possible.
Though he refused to divulge details of the decades old DTH policy that’s being updated keeping the present scenario in mind, including fast changing technology and a slowing economy, Khare did admit that some sops would be handed to the DTH operators.
However, he refused to commit on the fact whether those sops would include financial rationalization too like slashing of the annual revenue sharing with the government that is calculated at the rate of 10 per cent.
In the past, the DTH industry has demanded, among other things, cut in annual revenue share percentage to 6-8 per cent and other financial adjustments (like removal of content acquisition cost and an adjusted gross revenue) while calculating gross revenues.
For example, Jawahar Goel, managing director of India’s biggest DTH operator (in terms of subscribers) Dish TV had written to policy-makers in October highlighting once again the industry’s woes and pleading for rationalization of costs and taxes.
Even as India’s DTH industry has witnessed some consolidation, growth has been sluggish and ARPUs continue to be low with newer technologies throwing up additional avenues for content distribution forcing most legacy distributors to change tactics and business plans.
Meanwhile, Khare did hint that the licensing period of DTH operators could be increased from the present 10 years. Operators like Dish TV, Tata Sky and Sun Digital, for example, are being handed by MIB interim licenses for a short period of time.
Incidentally, telecoms and broadcast regulator TRAI in one of its recommendations had suggested increasing the DTH license period to 20 years from the present 10 years, apart from other sops like lower revenue sharing percentage and a one-time entry fee of Rs 100 million.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
