Media baron Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday sought enhancement of foreign direct investment limits in media and an early clearance of his Rs 1600 crore (Rs 16 billion) direct-to-home proposal in a joint venture with the Tatas.
"I did discuss the DTH project," Murdoch, chief of Newscorp, told PTI immediately after meeting Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy.
Murdoch had discussed the issue of raising the FDI limit in media, Reddy told reporters later, adding that no such proposal was being considered by the government.
"Murdoch made enquiries as to whether there would be further increase in FDI cap. I said we have no such proposal," he said. The media baron, however, did not express any desire to enter the print media in India, he said.
Murdoch, who was accompanied by R Thompson, editor, The Times, London, Star TV CEO Michelle Guthrie and Star India chief Peter Mukherjea, however, did not elaborate on what transpired between him and Reddy during the hour-long meeting.
Murdoch raised the issue of FDI in the media sector, which currently stands at 26 per cent in both print and electronic media while expressing concern over delays in getting the clearance for the DTH proposal of Star-Tata joint venture Space TV, pending for more than a year.
According to the minister, the News Corp chief made enquiries about public broadcaster Prasar Bharati's DTH, which at the moment is the market leader with over two million subscribers.
