Centre deregulates uplinking of satellite TV channels

In a bid to pitch India as an uplinking hub, the Government on Tuesday announced relaxation in guidelines for compliance for television channels and also made a 30-minute daily public interest broadcast mandatory, mainly for entertainment channels.

The ‘Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Television Channels in India, 2022’, which have been approved by the Union Cabinet, allow limited liability partnerships and companies to allow uplinking of foreign channels from Indian teleports for beaming content in countries covered by the satellite footprint.

The move is expected to allow television channels of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal to uplink from India, instead of Singapore, the preferred uplinking hub for channels beamed in the subcontinent.