- Several policy initiatives taken in 2013-14 to help this sector include the amendment of the FDI policy, thereby reducing the minimum floor area to 20,000 sq. m from the earlier 50,000 sq.m and bringing down the minimum capital requirement to US$ 5 million from US$ 10 million.
- Budget 2014-15 also announced setting up of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and SEBI has approved the REITs regulation. In order to encourage savings, the deduction limit on housing loan interest for self-occupied property was also increased to ` 2 lakh from the earlier `1.5 lakh in Budget 2014-15.
- The `11,47,274 crore trade and repair services sector with a share of 11.0% in GDP, grew by 14.3% in 2013-14. Trade is the major item in this category as the share of repair services in this category is just 6-7%. As per the AT Kearney’s Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), India’s retail trade ranking slipped further to twentieth in 2014 from fourteenth in 2013.
- According to a report by FICCI-KPMG, the Indian media and entertainment industry grew by 11.8% to `918 billion in 2013 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 14.2% to reach `1786 billion by 2018.
- Digital advertising and gaming are projected to drive the growth of this sector in the coming years. With `18.4 billion inflows, this sector contributed 1.6% of the total FDI inflows in India during April 2000-November 2014.
- With 161 million TV households, India is the world’s third largest TV market after China and the USA. There are about 826 satellite television channels, 86 teleports, 243 FM radio channels, and 179 community radio stations operating in India. India’s broadcasting distribution network comprises 6000 multi system operators (MSOs), around 60,000 local cable operators (LCOs), and 7 direct to home (DTH) operators.
- The Government 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 2016.
- India also has a liberalized FDI regime for the broadcasting sector where 26% FDI is allowed in content and 74% in various carriage services like DTH, HITS (headend in the sky).
- India is emerging as the new favourite of international studios, with 100% FDI permitted in the film sector. Disney, Fox, Sony, and Warner Brothers have entered into co-production and distribution deals with domestic production houses. India has co-production treaties with ten countries.
- During the year 2014-15 (till December 2014), the government has accorded permission for film shooting in India to twenty-one foreign production houses.
