HT This Day: February 27, 2002 -- Parliamentary committee rejects foreign equity in print media
Among those who opposed FDI were members representing the Left parties, the Congress, and two BJP allies - the Telugu Desam and the Biju Janata Dal
New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on Tuesday voted against the entry of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian print media.
The committee considered two reports with divergent recommendations. One favoured a ban on the entry of foreign equity while the second, prepared in December last year favoured allowing 26 per cent foreign equity with the rider that editorial and management control would remain in the hands of Indian partners.
When discussions began, Congress members voted against FDI, a stand which contrasted the one taken by a Congress member, Pawan Bansal, at a thinly-attended meeting of the committee last December.
This apparently took some members of the committee by surprise leading to commotion, created by those who had been lobbying hard for foreign participation.
But the chairman of the committee, CPI(M)’s Somnath Chatterjee, restored order and put the matter to vote. Sixteen members voted against FDI entry and 10 in favour of it. Soon after the vote, the chairman initiated a discussion on the draft report the panel would approve before it was tabled in Parliament. The report that was finally adopted rejected foreign equity and gave a week’s time for the submission of dissenting notes.
Among those who opposed FDI were members representing the Left parties, the Congress, and two BJP allies - the Telugu Desam and the Biju Janata Dal.
The most vociferous among those who were in favour of FDI was the BJP’s Narendra Mohan. Some members alleged that Mohan, being a media baron, had a “vested interest”.
The minority view represented by Mohan, who has time and again been criticised for lobbying in favour of FDI. was backed by the Shiv Sena’s Pritish Nandy and the DMK representative on the committee.
