NEW DELHI: Facing opposition from Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray on the Conditional Access System, information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is likely to meet him in a bid to bring him around ahead of its July 15 implementation in the four metros.

The minister is leaving for Mumbai tomorrow and is likely to meet Thackeray there, a Press trust of India report, quoting government sources here, said.

The fate of CAS came under a cloud with the BJP itself expressing apprehensions about its outcome following which the Prime Minister and deputy prime mMinister asked the I&B ministry to take all possible measures to ensure that it is consumer-friendly.

However, it faced another hurdle when Thackeray last week opposed its implementation saying government would have to "pay a heavy price" for its decision to force the people to buy set top boxes priced at Rs 6,000 (Thackeray was seemingly unaware that with the slashing of customs duties STB prices had come down to half that).

He also alleged that "a London based business magnate had struck a deal with the government and they want to dump their set top boxes in India".