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I&B proposes Rs 14 bn for digitisation of DD & AIR
NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has prepared a proposal for Rs 8 billion to All India Radio and Rs 6 billion to Doordarshan for completing digitisation which will be shortly placed before the Cabinet, according to a senior government official.
The Government is confident of meeting its deadline of complete digitisation of the electronic media by 2017, the I&B official adds.
The United States had set a deadline of 2009 but had not been able to complete digitisation while China has also set a deadline of 2017.
Doordarshan and AIR, which were beaming terrestrially to reach all over the country, had stepped up the process of digitisation.
Earlier, Doordarshan had set aside an amount of Rs 12.09 billion out of a total approved outlay of Rs 13.69 billion just for digitisation in the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012).
The official says the work will involve digitisation of existing studios, establishment of digital transmitters, replacement and augmentation of old studio, transmitter and satellite broadcast equipment and setting up of High Definition TV (HDTV) facilities.
Digitisation will free up spectrum currently used for analogue transmission, allowing more channels to come in. There is a possibility that extra spectrum could be used by Doordarshan in a partnership model for revenue generation.
Two HDTV studios will be established by Doordarshan in Delhi and Mumbai, and field production and post production facilities in four metros. The HDTV uplink will be set up at Delhi, and HDTV terrestrial transmitters will be installed in four metros. Doordarshan expects to broadcast the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi on HDTV.
Out of 66 studio centres, 23 have either already been digitised, or are being digitized. 39 studio centers, which are partially digitised or analogue, are planned to be fully digitised in the 11th Plan (by 2012). The remaining four analogue studios are proposed to be digitised in the 12th Plan.
The government plans to take up 40 locations where analogue High Power Transmitters are operational for setting up of Digital terrestrial transmitters (DTT) in the country. Fourteen obsolete High Power TV transmitters (UPTs) and 60 Lower Power TV transmitters (LPTs) will be replaced.
Satellite Earth Stations will be modernized using Digital Satelliter News Gathering (DSNG) in the 11th Plan.
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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.
