IndianMascot
Core Member
The government could consider making it mandatory for procurement of certain percentage of locally-made set-top boxes (STBs) if domestic manufacturers priced them competitively.
Information and Broadcasting (I&B) secretary Uday Kumar Varma said most of the STBs at present are being imported and the share of the domestic manufacturers is negligible, mainly on account of cost disadvantage.
He said with the government embarking upon a massive drive to switch over to digital delivery of television channels to households, there is a huge demand for STBs.
If domestic manufacturers are able to price their products competitively, I&B Ministry may even mandate a certain percentage of STBs to be procured domestically, he added.
Varma also said the I&B Ministry has written to the finance ministry over the issue of locally manufactured STBs attracting higher rate of value-added tax (VAT), while imported STBs are subjected to a lower rate of service tax as it is considered a service offered by cable operators.
Information and Broadcasting (I&B) secretary Uday Kumar Varma said most of the STBs at present are being imported and the share of the domestic manufacturers is negligible, mainly on account of cost disadvantage.
He said with the government embarking upon a massive drive to switch over to digital delivery of television channels to households, there is a huge demand for STBs.
If domestic manufacturers are able to price their products competitively, I&B Ministry may even mandate a certain percentage of STBs to be procured domestically, he added.
Varma also said the I&B Ministry has written to the finance ministry over the issue of locally manufactured STBs attracting higher rate of value-added tax (VAT), while imported STBs are subjected to a lower rate of service tax as it is considered a service offered by cable operators.