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Star files for FIPB nod to up its stake in Tata Sky
MUMBAI: Star India, the Indian subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, proposes to up its effective stake in the joint venture direct-to-home (DTH) company Tata Sky.
Star India has applied for FIPB (foreign investment promotion board) clearance to buy a 49 per cent stake in Tata Group’s investment firm TS Investments. The firm will buy a 20 per cent stake in Tata Sky for Rs 3.24 billion.
Effectively, Star India will get additional 9.8 per cent stake in Tata Sky, increasing News Corp’s total holding in the DTH company to 29.8 per cent.
Currently, News Corp holds 20 per cent while Tatas holds 70 per cent stake in the DTH company. In 2007, Temasek had acquired 10 10 per cent stake in Tata Sky for $56 million.
At present, there is a cap of 20 per cent FDI in the DTH sector, while the ceiling on foreign holding is 49 per cent. However, the government made amendments to the FDI policy last year that stated that investment through companies owned and controlled by Indians would not count in the calculation of foreign investment.
Tata Sky officials did not want to comment on the issue. Tata Sky MD & CEO Vikram Kaushik was not available for comment.
A source familiar with the development, however, said that the Murdoch company had applied to the FIPB for upping its stake in Tata Sky. “News Corp could have taken its effective stake to 39 per cent as Temasek holds 10 per cent. But the Tata Group was not willing to dilute its stake further at this stage,” the source added.
Tata Sky has over 4.5 million subscribers and is the third largest DTH operator in the country, behind Dish TV and Sun Direct. In terms of ARPUs, however, it would stand higher among the others.
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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.
