RBI gets approval to print Rs 10 plastic notes

The government on 17 March said the RBI has been authorised to conduct field trials of plastic notes of Rs 10 that have a longer life span. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said “it has been decided" to conduct a field trial with plastic banknotes at five locations of the country.

“Approval for procurement of plastic substrate and printing of bank notes of Rs 10 denomination on plastic banknote substrates has been conveyed to the RBI," the minister said. He added that plastic notes are expected to last longer than cotton substrate based banknotes.

Over the years, central banks across the world have been exploring different solutions like plastic notes and other developments in banknote substrates for extending the life cycle of banknotes.

The minister also said an inter-disciplinary standing committee on cyber security has been constituted to review the threats inherent in the existing and emerging technology and suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience. (The Economic Times)

It costs between Rs 2.87 to Rs 3.09 to print the Rs 500 note

The government on Wednesday revealed that it costs between Rs 2.87 to Rs 3.09 to print the new Rs 500 note and between Rs 3.54 to Rs 3.77 for a Rs 2,000 note.

The figures were revealed by Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal in a written reply in Rajya Sabha during Parliament's ongoing budget session. He was responding to a question asked on the cost of printing each of the new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 note.

Meghwal, however, stopped short of revealing the total sum spent to replace the all the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes. “It is too early to indicate the total cost of printing of new notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000, as they are still being printed," he said.

Prime Minster Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016, announced the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that were in circulation at that time would cease to be legal tender. The total value of banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was Rs 15.44 lakh crore on November 8, a day before the banknotes ceased to be legal tender. As of February 24, 2017, the currency in circulation in India was Rs 11.64 lakh crore.

Post-demonetisation, RBI received Rs 12.44 lakh crore in the form of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, as of December 10, 2016.

The Reserve Bank of India procures papers for printing new currency notes of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 from existing suppliers, Meghwal said on Wednesday. (IndiaToday.in)

Media, entertainment to grow at 14% by 2021: Report

The Indian media and entertainment (M&E) industry is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% to touch Rs2.41 trillion by 2021 with advertising revenue expected to grow at 15.3% during the same period to reach Rs 1.07 trillion.

In 2016, the M&E sector grew at 9.1%, while overall advertising grew at 11.2% over 2015.

Growth for television advertising is projected at a CAGR of 14.7% between 2016 and 2021, while print media is expected to grow at 7.3%, according to a report by consulting firm KPMG and lobby group FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry).

Titled ‘Media for the masses: The promise unfolds’, the report was unveiled at the annual media and entertainment industry event Ficci Frames in Mumbai on 21 March 2017.

Among traditional media, radio will see the fastest growth of 16.1%, while new media or digital advertising is slated for a 31% growth during the period between 2016 and 2021, the report said.

The segment for films is expected to bounce back and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 7.7% for the next five years, as the revenue streams broaden, driven by the growing depth of regional content, expansion in overseas markets and higher contribution of digital revenue streams.

The estimated growth of 7.3% in print media is largely on the back of continued growth in readership in vernacular markets and advertisers’ confidence in the medium, especially in the tier II and tier-III cities. Print advertising revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% over the next five years.

Meanwhile, in digital advertising as digital infrastructure continues to develop and data costs are driven down, digital consumption is likely to become more frequent and more mainstream.

Last year, the impact of demonetisation was felt across the M&E industry. Advertising revenues across television, print and radio suffered while the attendance at cinema halls, particularly single screens, and live events, was also impacted.

It is estimated that the annual advertising growth rates for television, print and radio were adversely impacted by about 1.5 to 2.5 %.

However since January 2017, there has been an upswing in consumption and advertising demand, although spend levels continue to remain lower than the same period in the previous year. It is expected that the spend level would be back to usual by second quarter 2017. (Livemint.com)

TV will account for nearly 40% of ad spend in India

Traditional media ad spending—especially on television and print—will remain the most popular advertising mediums in India this year, according to eMarketer’s latest ad spending forecast for the country.

Advertisers are expected to direct the largest portion of their outlays to TV, which will account for 39.3% of all ad spending and equal USD 3.13 billion. Print will not be far behind, with 35.7% of ad spending dedicated to the medium. The vast majority of print ad expenditures will be on newspapers, which still remain popular and profitable in India.

Overall paid media ad spending in the country will grow 12.0% in 2017 to reach USD 7.94 billion, eMarketer estimates.

Meanwhile, digital media ad spending will make up 15.3% of all ad outlays, but will increase by 30.0%, far behind traditional media in India. Within digital, mobile is the key driving force and is expected to grow by 85.0% this year to reach $460.1 million.

“Traditional media outlets, especially print and TV, remain the mainstay of media advertising due to its outsized influence on the lives of many in India,” said Shelleen Shum, senior forecasting analyst at eMarketer. “Local content coverage in various languages and the widespread accessibility to print and TV signals explain their ability to hold on to large audiences. This is a stark contrast to many other countries where both industries are facing declines in advertising revenue as audiences migrate to digital.” (eMarketer.com)

London Book Fair puts spotlight on India

The annual London Book Fair, which ran from 14 to 17 March 2017 at the Olympia Exhibition Centre, opened a Spotlight on India series as part of the UK-India Year of Culture celebrations in the two countries.

The spotlight marked the first event as part of India@UK2017, the official set of events being coordinated by the Indian High Commission in London and the Ministry of Culture, along with a series of cultural organisations in India and the UK.

“The London Book Fair worked with the Indian government’s export trade body Capexil to stage an exhibiting presence over three pavilions for nearly 40 exhibitors. The enhanced Indian exhibit at this year’s fair showcased the global importance of India’s publishing industry, in particular its digital innovation,” an LBF statement said.

The events as part of the India spotlight included an “In Conversation” with Indian author Amit Chaudhuri, a symposium on Indian writing today with a delegation of authors from the Sahitya Akademi, a discussion titled ‘Indian Worlds: From Book to Screen’ with UK-based author Shrabani Basu and a session on ‘How to access the Indian book market’.

There was a seminar titled ‘Opportunities & Challenges’, hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). (Easterneye.com)

139 JK publications empanelled with DAVP

The directorate of advertising and visual publicity (DAVP), the nodal department for issuing advertisements to the print, electronic and online media on behalf of the government of India, has co-opted J&K’s Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) for verification of existence, regularity and circulation of the newspapers/periodicals in the state empanelled with DAVP for release of advertisements by the government.

According to a communication from NV Reddy, additional director general, DAVP, addressed to principal secretary to the government, information department, the DIPR has been asked to verify the existence, regularity and circulation of all the newspapers and periodicals empanelled by DAVP from Jammu and Kashmir, in tune with the guidelines laid down in the New Advertisement Policy for DAVP notified by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting last year.

As per the list provided by DAVP, 139 newspapers/periodicals from Jammu and Kashmir are presently empanelled with DAVP.

The new advertisement policy of DAVP focuses on streamlining release of government advertisements and to promote equity and fairness among various categories of empanelled newspapers/ periodicals.

The policy has classified empanelled newspapers/ journals into three categories namely small (less than 25,000 copies per publishing day), medium (25,001-75,000 copies per publishing day) and big (more than 75,000 copies per publishing day).

The policy also mentions relaxation in empanelment procedure to provide special encouragement for regional language/ dialects small and medium newspapers, mass circulated newspapers (circulation less than 1 lakh), newspapers in Northeastern states, Jammu & Kashmir and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

To promote equity based regional outreach, the policy emphasizes that the budget for all India release of advertisements shall be divided among states based on total circulation of newspapers in each state /language.

The policy mentions that PSUs and autonomous bodies may issue the advertisements directly at DAVP rates to newspapers empanelled with DAVP.

Pertinently, the DAVP has, during 2015-16, released advertisements to the tune of Rs 1190 crore to the newspapers/periodicals empanelled with it throughout India. (Kashmirlife.net)

FDI cap tweak in print media in the works

The government is planning the next big round of foreign direct investment (FDI) liberalisation, which could have significant implications for several sectors, including print media and retail. Economic ministries are learnt to be working on a proposal to step up the FDI limit in print news media to 49%, from the current cap of 26%. Also, there are plans to allow single-brand retail companies with up to 100% FDI to go through the automatic clearance route.

A draft cabinet note on phasing out the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is already in the making and could be ready for approval by the Union Cabinet by the end of April. FDI rules could be eased subsequently in some of the sectors.

“Successive governments have done all they can in raising FDI limits across sectors. Further liberalisation can now happen through easing the rules governing approval routes,” said a senior government official.

Print news media could be an exception where talks are on to relax the level of FDI, the official said. The person added that while the bureaucracy has no issues with the proposal to raise sectoral cap to 49% from the existing 26% in print media, it could face political hurdles. The proposal will be pursued further, the official said.

The draft cabinet note for bringing the curtain down on FIPB states FDI proposals which require approval will be given by either sectoral regulators or line ministries. FIPB will not be replaced by another body, officials said.

In his 2017-18 Budget, finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced the dismantling of FIPB. “In the meantime, further liberalisation of FDI policy is under consideration and necessary announcements will be made in due course,” he had said. (Business Standard)