Even as big media houses demand a hike in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the current cap of 26 per cent, Information and Broadcasting minister P R Dasmunsi on Wednesday said that a level playing field needs to be created before it can be allowed.

There has been a long-standing argument on liberalising FDI cap further in media houses but the ministry has only been “mulling” over it. Dasmunsi said it was a matter of Government policy and not the prerogative of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry alone.

Alongside the margins of interactions with members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, the minister said that a government policy is needed to be formulated on the issue. “This is not the matter of the I&B ministry. There has to be a government policy on this. We are holding discussions with various stakeholders. Without a level playing field, it will benefit a few, but not the smaller players,” the minister said.

The statement comes within months of the ministry mooting a telecom sector like increase in FDI at 74 per cent for the cable and broadcasting segment. The minister, maintaining that the issue needs some serious looking at, pointed out that some media houses were robbing the Government of thousands of crores of rupees of tax revenue by not adhering to uplinking and downlinking regulations.

The minister also said that there was an “overwhelming” demand and case for TV channel content regulation, but the Centre had no intent to force any regulatory code on the media. The Centre has prepared a draft Broadcast Content Regulation Bill but it was strongly opposed by media which argued that it would impinge on its freedom. Dasmunsi said the Government would try further to “persuade” the media and editors to develop a self-regulatory code of conduct.