Investors have begun fretting over digital media investments

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Editor's note: I am guessing today’s Things Change couldn’t be more true to the objective of starting this newsletter. Most of you are clued-in readers, so I am sure you know that the government of India has been tinkering with foreign direct investment limits in digital media for some time now. Disguised as levelling the playing field between print, television and digital, most of the government’s notifications on the subject should be understood as wolf in sheep’s clothing. As things stand today, and things are only still moving around and can change anytime, all homegrown media companies in India can accept foreign direct investment up to 26% of their shareholding, and only with government approval. A month’s timeline to notify the government with a list of necessary documents has just been issued. So the clock is ticking. If you must know how the media business stacks up in comparison to another important sector, well just a few months back, the FDI limit in the defence sector under the automatic route was increased from 49% to 74%. India’s priorities are clear. We want …