Rupert Murdoch to arrive in Mumbai today

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch will be flying into Mumbai on Saturday and will face a hectic schedule. Late on Friday, Star India officials were busy preparing the News Corp chairman's itinerary and trying to squeeze interactions with the media, if Murdoch agreed to this.

Murdoch is also expected to review Star's businesses in India. On his agenda could be Star News, the joint venture with the Kolkata-based ABP group.

Murdoch is scheduled to meet ABP chief editor Aveek Sarkar on Saturday evening, Star insiders said. The evening meeting will also be attended by heads of multi-system operators (MSOs).

This is Murdoch's first visit after four years. Star India officials said Murdoch would be meeting the heads of India operations in a closed door meeting on Sunday to examine the initiatives undertaken by the company over the last four years since his visit.

The channel has launched Star One, Star Utsav and Star News over the last four years.

Michelle Guthrie, the Star group's Hong Kong based chief executive officer, is also hosting an informal dinner on Sunday for senior business executives of the Tata group and several other businessmen.

Murdoch spent Friday in Delhi meeting prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, information and broadcasting minister S Jaipal Reddy.