172 Magazines Granted Permission To Launch In India

Expect rush of foreign publications in India, particularly in the print media space.

Over the past year, we've seen the plans to publish Fortune magazine, the Economist, Rolling Stone, among others. Now the I&B minister PR Dasmunsi has told the Rajya Sabha that as many as 172 foreign magazines in the speciality/scientif ic/technical sector have been given permission to launch Indian editions.

Apart from this, permission has also been granted for publication of 107 magazines by Indian co's having Foreign Direct Investment - some of them 100 percent FDI. As of now, only news and current affairs publications are subject to an FDI limit of 26 percent. While I'm not foretelling the death of print media yet, it's likely that some of these publications will also have their own websites for Indian readers.

Of the ones mentioned above, Rolling Stone India is already preparing its site.