NEW DELHI: Despite announcements by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry about expediting clearances, several proposals by private multi-system operators have remained pending for long periods either with the I&B or the Home Ministry. 

However, I&B secretary Bimal Julka told Indiantelevision.com today that a letter had been sent to the Home Ministry to expedite security clearances, so that the DAS targets could be met.

The Ministry said a proposal by Reliance Jio for registration as a multi-system operator (MSO) under the digital addressable system was sent to the Home Ministry on 2 Feburary for security clearance.

The representative of Reliance Jio, Abhishek Soni, was told that the Home Ministry will take some time to furnish comments/security clearance.

CAT Vision, during a recently held open house meeting, was told that a reminder was being sent to the Home Ministry in its case. Signum Digital Network was also given the same assurance.

Digirevo Networks received a similar response to its query at the open house meeting.   

Indiverse Broadband was told that its request for foreign direct investment (FDI) had been turned down by the Finance Ministry. Its representative said the company had already informed the I&B Ministry in June last year that it no longer needed FDI. However, it was informed by the Ministry officials that no such response had been received from the company.