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Apollo to take 11% in Dish TV via GDR
MUMBAI: US-based Apollo Management will take a 11 per cent stake in the expanded equity of Dish TV, marking its first media investment in India.
Apollo will pump in $100 million to subscribe to Dish TV‘s GDR (Global Depositary Receipt) issue. Dish TV has priced its GDR at Rs 39.80 per share of Re 1 each.
Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that Dish TV would be going in for a GDR issue as it plans to raise up to $200 million to fund its expansion programme.
“Dish TV will issue 117.03 million equity shares in the form of 117,035 GDRs, at a price of $ 854.5 per GDR (with each GDR representing 1,000 equity shares of Re 1 each), aggregating $100 million,” the company said.
The deal is expected to settle on 30 November, subject to customary closing conditions.
Says Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel, “Apollo has a strong track record of investing in growing businesses, especially in the media sector, and with their investment, Dish TV will be well capitalised to build on its market leadership and pursue its ambitious business objectives.”
Dish TV has an aggressive target of mopping up 2.5 million subscribers this fiscal. But with the fund raising in place, the DTH operator hopes to up its earlier target of having eight million subscribers by FY‘10.
Apollo Management has approximately $50 billion in assets under management, in private equity and credit-oriented capital markets invested across a core group of industries where it has considerable knowledge and resources. Apollo’s recent and current investments in the media and satellite space include Hughes Network Systems, Intelsat, Sirius Satellite Radio, CableCom and UnityMedia.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
