After Bangalore, Murdoch targets Mumbai

Murdoch is planning several new initiatives including multimedia, education, data and e-commerce involving an investment of "hundreds of millions of dollars" in India. The fare News Corp has lined up is not very different from what Chandra is planning for the Zee group. Zee recently hived off one of its divisions into a fully owned subsidiary, branded ZeeNext to tap the lucrative education market. The subsidiary is readying a host of multimedia learning solutions to be delivered through its cable network, among other channels.

Logically, Bangalore should be the hub for any e-commerce or software outsourcing initiative News Corp plans from India. But with the entertainment industry headquarted in Mumbai, Murdoch may also consider syngeries with the Zee group for any multimedia initiative. On the other hand, a section of the industry feels that after their recent, much-publicised divorce, chances of another tie-up are not very bright.

During his visit to Bangalore, Murdoch had also announced plans to expand the network in India to include six main Indian lanaguage channels. The new intiatives are to take off as early as April 2000, a plan already initiated by Chandra. When contacted, a Star TV spokesperson in Mumbai said Murdoch was here primarily to visit the News Television India office, and that he would be flying to Delhi on Tuesday.

Murdoch had held extensive discussions with Bangalore Chief Minister S M Krishna during his two-day stay in the southern city. According to Bangalore reports, Krishna said Murdoch found Bangalore an attractive place both for his e-commerce initiatives and entertainment expansion, and that senior Star TV officials would come back to the city to work out the plans in detail.

The Karnataka Government has offered full support to Murdoch’s new ventures and it is likely that Maharashtra Government too will do the same, especially considering the fierce competition between the two states to woo software and entertainment industries. Murdoch is considering Bangalore for a second base in the country.

On Sunday, Murdoch also met Infosys Technologies chairman N R Narayana Murthy, Wipro’s Azim Premji and Microland Chairman Pradeep Kar in Bangalore to get a first-hand report on the growing Indian software industry.