The government today notified the June 16, 2005 decision of the Union Cabinet, which allowed foreign portfolio investment in Indian print media and printing of international editions of foreign newspapers in India. It has also notified increasing the levels of syndicated content to 20 per cent.
The notification said permission will be granted only in cases where equity held by the largest Indian shareholder is at least 51 per cent of the paid-up equity, excluding the equity held by public sector banks and public financial institutions.
"At least 50 per cent of the foreign direct investment will have to be inducted by issuing fresh equity. The balance may be inducted through transfer of existing equity," it added.
On facsimile editions of foreign newspapers, the revised guidelines stipulate that any foreign company owning the original foreign newspaper will be permitted to publish the same, provided it is incorporated and registered in India and at least three-fourths of the directors on its board and all key executives and editorial staff are resident Indians.
"It should have a commercial presence in India with its principal place of business in the country," the guidelines said.
The facsimile edition shall not carry any advertisements aimed at Indian readers in any form and also any locally-generated, India-specific content, which is not simultaneously published in the original edition of the foreign newspaper.
On syndication arrangements, which include photographs, cartoons, crosswords, articles and features from foreign publications (content provider), it said these havebeen hiked from 7.5 per cent to 20 per cent of the total content.
The syndicated material should not include full copy of the editorial page or the front page of the foreign publication and the masthead of the content provider should also not be utilised in the Indian publication, the government said. It also said credit to the content provider has to be given prominently as a byline in the Indian publication.
"The material procured under syndication arrangement is such that has already been published in the content provider publication," it added.
