Government clears Wall Street Journal's facsimile edition in India

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared the proposal of US-based Dow Jones to start facsimile edition of its newspaper The Wall Street Journal in India.

The ministry of information and broadcasting, however, said the overall policy for fax editions of foreign newspapers in India is still under review.

The WSJ proposal, which was turned down twice by the FIPB, was approved at its meeting last week.

Earlier, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) had sought a review of the foreign direct investment (FDI) in facsimile edition of foreign newspapers in India.

''On a review of the extant policy on foreign direct investment, the government of India has decided to allow foreign investment in publication of facsimile edition of foreign newspapers and Indian edition of foreign magazines dealing with news and current affairs,'' a government release said.

''The policy for foreign direct investment (FDI) in publication of facsimile edition of foreign newspapers include permitting 100 per cent FDI with prior approval of the government for the publication of the facsimile edition, provided the FDI is by the owner of the original foreign newspaper whose facsimile edition is proposed to be brought out in India,'' the release added.

The policy also specifies that the publication can be undertaken only by an entity incorporated or registered in India under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956. Also, the publication would be subject to the guidelines for publication of newspapers and periodicals dealing with news and current affairs and publication of facsimile edition of foreign newspapers issued by the ministry of information and broadcasting on 31 March 2006, as amended from time to time, the release noted.

FDI in publication of Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news and current affairs is limited to 26 per cent, including investments by NRI/PIOs/FII, while for 'magazines', defined as a periodical publication, brought out on a non-daily basis, containing public news or comments on public news, FDI shall be subject to the guidelines for publication of Indian editions of foreign magazines dealing with news and current affairs issued by the ministry of information and broadcasting as of 4 December 2008.