CQ- Cable TV Digitisation led to manifold increases in tax collection: Economic Survey ================================================== Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitly on 9th July has tabled Economic Survey for the year 2013-14 in the Parliament. The survey outlines the achievements of cable television digitisation and the resultant increase in tax collection, providing enough reason to cheer for both the state government and central government. Jaitley in Parliament said, “Preliminary data from the state governments show that there is already two to three fold increase in entertainment tax collections.” The transparency in the subscriber base is set to add to the manifold increase in tax collection. The success of cable TV digitisation and the consequent possibility of a larger number of set-top boxes (STBs) being seeded in the next two phases is now driving expectations higher. According to a report by FICCI-KPMG, the Indian M&E sector grew 11.8 per cent to Rs 91,800 crore (Rs 918 billion) in 2013 from Rs 82,100 crore (Rs 821 billion) in 2012. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 14.2 per cent to reach Rs 1,78,600 crore (Rs 1.786 trillion) by 2018. The M&E sector in general and broadcast in particular is expected to play a crucial role in India’s growth story which has a unique character in itself—the service sector. The government has set a deadline to complete cable TV digitisation and switch off the analogue mode. The survey sees good opportunity for local manufacturing of STBs which would also lead to employment generation. India has one of the largest broadcasting industries in the world with close to 161 million TV households. There are about 800 satellite television channels, 88 teleports, 245 FM radio channels, and 170 community radio stations operating in India. The Government of India has embarked on an ambitious exercise of digitizing its cable network in four phases leading to complete switch off of analog TV services by 31 December 2014. The first two phases of cable TV digitization have been successfully completed. Three crore set top boxes (STBs) were installed in the first two phases. It is estimated that state governments and the Government of India stand to gain signif icantly, as transparency in the subscriber base through digitization would lead to manifold increase in the tax collection. Preliminary data from state governments shows that there is already two- to three-fold increase in entertainment tax collection. There is also good opportunity for local manufacturing of STBs, leading to employment generation. Phase III, covering other urban areas and Phase IV the rest of India, are slated for completion by 30 September 2014 and 31 December 2014 respectively. Other mediums of cable TV viewing such as direct-to-home (DTH) are adding one million customers every year, the survey says, adding that the government has also allowed two operators to provide services through headend-in-the-sky (HITS) system. The survey acknowledges the role played by these mediums in achieving the goal of 100 per cent digital distribution in India. The effect of digitization is being felt in the film sector as well. With about 95 per cent of India’s cinema screens already digitized, the industry is poised for buoyant growth in the long run. Piracy remains a challenge to the Indian film industry. The Government of India has approved an anti-piracy plan to put an effective legal mechanism in place for combating piracy and creating public awareness among all the stakeholders through multimedia campaign in PPP mode. So far it has signed co-production agreements with nine countries, namely the UK, Italy, Brazil, Germany, France, New Zealand, Poland, Canada, and Spain. The government has accorded permission to shoot in India to 31 foreign production houses in 2013-14. The survey hopes for continued growth of the M&E sector. Source: cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/5451-cq-cable-tv-digitisation-led-to-manifold-increases-in-tax-collection-economic-survey.html
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 10:54:43 +0000
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