Tata officials on Wednesday met Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy and are believed to have raised, among other things, the issue of the Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion) DTH venture they have entered into along with the Star Group.

Tata Ltd's Ishatt Hussain met the minister this afternoon and his visit follows a similar one by officials of Star Group, led by its CEO Michelle Guthrie, on July 2.

Hussain refused to comment on the exact nature of the talks he had with Reddy.

The Tatas have 80 per cent stake in the Direct-to-Home TV services venture -- Space TV -- promoted by the Rupert Murdoch controlled Star, whose equity is 20 per cent as per the existing guidelines.

Official sources said the Star delegation had pressed for faster clearance for the project when they met Reddy apart from making a strong plea to raise the foreign exchange cap for such ventures.

While the DTH project of Zee TV is already in operation, another by Doordarshan, which envisages providing 40 free-to-air channels, is expected to start operations soon.