The Government will be revising its policy governing FDI in print by including a clause which will make it mandatory for the new newspaper company to prove its financial adequacy first.What this means is that the new entity/company seeking FDI will have to show it has sufficient funds (51 per cent by the largest Indian shareholder and 26 per cent by a foreign investor) to run news operations in the country. The clause is being added to bring the print policy on par with the uplinking guidelines for TV news channels announced last month. The uplinking guidelines for news channels had not only stipulated that 51 per cent of share in the company seeking uplinking permission should lie with the largest Indian shareholder but also clarified the representation on the board of directors in the company shall be proportionate to the shareholding.Sources in the I&B Ministry said this was being done to ensure that the business of running the paper is in genuine hands and under Indian control. While the Centre does not intend to put a figure on financial strength of new newspaper entities, sources said it would vary between language papers, English dailies, Hindi dailies and metro papers, their circulation and annual turnover.
