The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared the proposal of US-based Dow Jones to start facsimile edition of its newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in India.
While the ministry sources clarified that the overall policy for fax editions is still under review, this proposal has been given approval on a case-to-case basis in FIPB's meeting held last week.
The proposal was turned down twice earlier pending the review but the company had applied to FIPB under deferred proposal agenda in its meeting on January 9. Under the approved proposal, Dow Jones can now set up a wholly-owned subsidiary to carry out the publication.
Earlier, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) had sought a review of the foreign direct investment (FDI) in facsimile edition of foreign newspapers in India with the objective of bringing down the FDI cap from 100 per cent to 26 per cent.
(DIPP is an arm of the government which is responsible for formulating FDI policy in various sectors in consultation with ministries of specific sectors and also looks after promotion, approval and facilitation of FDI.
DIPP has already floated a cabinet note to bring down FDI cap on tobacco sector from 100 per cent to 74 per cent.
