Lok Sabha Question No. 1301 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-28
Subject: Broadcast and Distribution Policy
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: Manish Tewari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1301 (TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.06.2019)

## BROADCAST AND DISTRIBUTION POLICY

## 1301. SHRI MANISH TIWARI :

## Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state :

- (a)      whether the Government is aware that as per the recommendation of TRAI dated 28  December,  2012  the  Companies  that  are  controlled  by  the  Union,  State Governments and their Departments are barred from the business of broadcasting and distributing television channels;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the present status of said recommendation;
- (c) whether it has been accepted by the Government and translated into policy, if so, the details thereof together with the exceptions to the said policy, if any; and
- (d) whether there are any content or distribution entities in the TV space that have been licensed by the Government in the past five years, if so, the details of the said entities and the reasons for doing the same along with the full names and address of their respective promoters?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE AND MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) Yes Sir.

(b) & (c) The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its recommendations on 28.12.2012 recommended that Central/State Ministries and Departments, Central/State Government owned companies, Central/State Government undertakings, Joint  Ventures  of  Central/State  Government  and  the  private  sector  and  Central/State Governments  funded  entities  should  not  be  allowed  to  enter  into  the  business  of broadcasting and/or distribution of TV channels. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting deliberated the said recommendations in the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) set up to examine TRAI recommendations. The acceptance of the recommendations and its translation into policy has multi dimensional implications which requires consultation with various stakeholders.

- (d) In  order  to  comply  with  the  Order  of  Hon'ble  High  Court  of  Madras  dated 20.12.2013  in  MP  No.  1/2013  in  WP  No.  34213  of  2013,  a  provisional  Multi-System Operator  (MSO)  registration  was  granted  to  M/s  Tamil  Nadu  Arasu  Cable  TV Corporation Ltd. (TACTV), a State Government Undertaking, on 17.04.2017 to operate in Tamil Nadu to provide digital cable TV services.

The address of TACTV is as under:

Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd. Dugar Towers,  6 th Floor, No.34, (123), Marshalls Road, Egmore, Chennai-600008.

A list of Promoters of M/s TACTV is annexed.

## Annexure

Annexure as referred to in reply to part (d) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1301 to be answered on 28.06.2019.

|   Sl. No. | Name of Promoters          | Address                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|-----------|----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Excellency of Governor     | Governor's Secretariat/Governor's Household Office, Raj Bhavan, Chennai-600 022.                                                                                                                       |
|         2 | Chairman (Vacant)          | NIL                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|         3 | Dr. Santosh Babu, IAS,     | Principal Secretary to Government, Information Technology Department, Secretariat, Chennai-600 009.                                                                                                    |
|         4 | Thiru M.A. Siddique, IAS   | Principal Secretary to Government (Expenditure) Finance Department, Secretariat, Chennai-600 009.                                                                                                      |
|         5 | Thiru Santosh K Misra, IAS | Commissioner of e-Governance and Chief Executive Officer, Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agncy, 2 nd & 7 th Floor, P.T. LEE Chengalvaraya Naicker Building, Opp to LIC Building, Anna Salai, Chennai-600 002. |
|         6 | Dr. D. Karthikeyan, IAS    | Commissioner of Municipal Administration, 6 th Floor, Ezhilagam Annex Building, Kamarajar Promenade, PWDEstate, Chepauk, Triplicane, Chennai-600 005.                                                  |
|         7 | Thiru M. Vijayakumar, IAS  | Managing Director, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd., Nandanam, Chennai-600 002.                                                                                                              |
|         8 | Dr. P. Sankar, IAS,        | Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited (TACTV), Dugar Towers, 6 th Floor, No.34, (123), Marshalls Road, Egmore, Chennai-600 008.                                             |
|         9 | Thiru K. Baskaran, IAS     | Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Panagal Maaligai, 4 th Floor,                                                                                                              |

|    |                      | Abdul Razzak Street, Saidapet, Chennai-600 015.                                                                            |
|----|----------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10 | Er. S. Shanmugam, BE | Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Limited, No.825 Link Road, Anna Salai, Triplicane, Chennai-600 002. |

*****