Giving an edge to Indian news providers over foreign ones, the government on Wednesday issued guidelines for the new uplinking policy for news channels fixing a cap of 26 per cent foreign equity on any company wanting to uplink news and current affairs from India.

The guidelines, issued nearly a week after the Cabinet cleared the new policy, stipulate that the channel applying for uplinking news should be registered in India, majority of the board directors should be resident Indians as also the CEO or the head of the channel and those exercising editorial control, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters in New Delhi.

Permission for usage of facilities and infrastructure for live news and footage collection and transmission, irrespective of the technology used, will be given to only channels uplinked from India.

However, he said for a smooth roll over, content providers and channels currently using VSAT, RTTS and Satellite Video Phone and similar other infrastructure, which lends itself for use of uplinking and transfer of content, will be allowed a maximum of three months to come within the framework of the guidelines.

Prasad declined to answer any specific queries about the fate of channels like Star TV, whose application for uplinking from India for a 24-hour news channel with 100 per cent foreign equity was pending before the government.

"This policy is channel neutral," he said adding the Star TV had not approached the government after last week's decision of the Union Cabinet.

However, Star TV has been given a temporary reprieve with three months switch-over time to comply with the new guidelines. Otherwise, the channel would not have been able to telecast live.

He said requests by channels uplinked from outside India for use of equipment for collection of news and current affairs for temporary duration will be entertained on a case-to-case basis in consultation with other ministries, including the home ministry.    

While entertainment channels will continue to be eligible to uplink from India, irrespective of their ownership, equity structure or management control, those with any news and current affairs content will have to adhere to a 26 per cent equity cap, which includes FDI and FII.

An existing channel, permitted by the information and broadcasting ministry to uplink from India, will be required to conform to the guidelines within a year from Wednesday.

Prasad said there were 100 channels in the country, of which 47 were news channels and 16 were 24-hour news channels. Eight more applications were pending for news channels, of which five were round-the-clock channels.

To a question about the objective of the cap, Prasad said the world over the regimes were restrictive with 20 per cent limit in Australia and 25 per cent in the US. "India's policy is most liberal," he added.

Asked if the guidelines would apply to foreign news agencies, the minister replied in the negative, adding they apply only to India centric news and current affairs programmes for channels wanting to uplink from India.

To a query why it took the government so long to take a decision on the matter, Prasad said inter-ministerial consultations were held on the issue.

The guidelines also put conditions that any company or channel will intimate the I&B ministry the details of any foreigner or NRIs engaged or employed for over 60 days, comply with the programme and advertisement code under the cable act and use transponder on a satellite in C-Band only.

It will also have to keep a record of content uplinked for 90 days and produce it before the government if needed and provide for necessary monitoring facility.

It would be obligatory on the part of the company to take prior permission from the ministry before effecting any change in the foreign share holding pattern, the CEO or the board of directors.

On getting the clearance, the applicant company will be permitted to uplink its channels through an authorised hub or teleport. The period of approval will be 10 years.