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Digital penetration in four metro cities at 77 per cent, says MIB
MUMBAI: Amidst allegations of fudged figures on digitisation penetration, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Wednesday said that the cable television digitisation in the four metros has increased to 77 per cent twenty days before the deadline for shutting down analogue signal.
The digitisation penetration in the four metros according to MIB is 99 per cent in Mumbai, followed by 73 per cent in Kolkata, 66 per cent in Delhi and 59 per cent in Chennai.
The MIB said the digitisation penetration will go up to 84 per cent in the four metros if the cable TV and direct-to-home penetration is taken into account.
The figure was based on data provided by multi-system operators (MSOs) and direct-to-home (DTH) and data derived from 2011 Census. The MIB said that during the initial stage of planning the data was collated based on the information supplied by the MSOs.
The ministry observed that there were grave discrepancies in data provided, particularly number of cable TV subscribers in four metro cities as it did not present the true picture largely due to duplication of cable connections. It also said that the data did not reflect the numbers vis-? -vis service and entertainment tax collection.
“In view of the given discrepancy, the Ministry has under taken the exercise to base the data Census of India 2011, released by Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. This data has authentic figures relating to households and TV penetration in four metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai,” the MIB said in a statement.
City wise data for Metro Cities can be seen in the Table below:
To buttress its point of using census data to calculate digitisation penetration, the MIB said that the census data has been widely used both Government and non Government agencies for planning and policy purposes as data collection is done by house to house survey by an impartial body.
As per the data released by MIB on the basis of census figures, 1.86 million STBs have been installed with set-top boxes out of 2.24 million TV households in the city. Out of the 2.24 million TV households, there are 1.54 million cable TV homes and 0.7 million DTH homes.
In Delhi, 1.58 million STBs have been installed out of 1.99 million cable TV subscribers. Kolkata with 2.02 million cable TV subscribers has seen installation of 1.47 million STBs while Chennai with 0.43 million cable TV subscribers has seen installation of 0.25 million STBs.
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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.
