NEW DELHI: Even as the government claims to have permitted 892 private satellite television channels as on 28 February 2017, applications of a total of 112 channels have been awaiting clearance, some of them since October 2010.
Stating this, the minister of state for information & broadcasting told the Parliament that the government has no plan to place a ceiling on the number of TV channels in the country.
Meanwhile, a list annexed to the minister's reply showed that Cinema 24*7 leads the list of those awaiting clearance with seven channels. Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd and Zee Media come next with six channels each.
Six companies are awaiting clearance for three channels each: Yogi Networks, Vedic Broadcasting Ltd, Eduall India, Media Worldwide Ltd, Raj TV Network and Neo Broadcast Pvt Ltd.
Those who have applied for two channels each include Springtide Infotainment Media, Vrinda Channel, Enter 10 TV, AETN 18 Media, Viacom 18, Chaman Broadcasting, Kasthuri Media, BBC Global News India, Discovery Communications, Dev Varsha Jatropha Bio-Energy Ltd, Kamyab TV, Sowbhagya Media Pvt Ltd, and Sudarshan TV.
All others including NDTV Lifestyle and Disney International have queued up for one channel each.
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