Govt. committed to fast growth of M&E Industry: Javadekar

Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting made a strong commitment for a transparent mechanism and decision making on policy initiatives pending with his ministry on priority. He said the potential of the Indian M&E industry is untapped and endorsed the CII vision of taking the Indian M&E industry to $100 billion by the end of this decade.

In his first major interaction with the top decision makers at the CII CEOs Roundtable on Media and Entertainment, Javadekar said the government will be “partner in progress” with the growth of the M&E industry.

Forty top CEOs of the M&E sector interacted with the Minister and were confident that pending decisions will not be further delayed by the new government. Issues related to broadcast, films, DTH, cable, Radio, Print, news broadcast were briefed by industry leaders at the CII Roundtable.

“This government is about communication and consensus. We will create a process in which decisions will be taken in four weeks which was taking four months earlier,” said Javadekar with reference to decisions pertaining to the broadcast sector.

Javadekar maintained that the ongoing digitization will not be abandoned, Radio phase III licensing will be processed faster, news allowed in FM radio, current DAVP rates will be relooked and self regulation advocated for print medium.

“We believe that soft power of Indian M&E Sector can bring innumerable benefits to the Indian economy. The M & E industry provides direct employment to around 10 

million people and has the potential to double the number. This sector also is on the cusp of achieving the same global success that the Indian IT industry has achieved,” said Ajay Shriram, President, CII in his opening address.

Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said his Ministry will be an “enabler and facilitator” and will create single window clearance with no “multiple grills”.  He said the  phase III FM Radio auctions will be completed by December  2014. Julka also made a request to the M&E industry to present budget proposals to his Ministry by June 23 to be presented to the finance ministry.

Sudhanshu Vats, Chairman, CII Media & Entertainment Committee and  

Group CEO, Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd said accountability, clarity and foresight from M&E stakeholders will take the sector to new heights.

In his opening address Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII said that an innovative push from the government in an enabling regulatory infrastructure and policy reforms will create a world class knowledge driven entertainment in India.