NEW DELHI: News major NDTV's plans to enter the broadcast entertainment arena has just moved up a gear. The finance ministry has approved foreign investment of Rs 5.85 billion by NDTV Networks UK in wholly owned subsidiary companies - NDTV Imagine and NDTV Lifestyle.

The approvals for foreign direct investment in the two companies are for the upcoming launch of NDTV's Hindi general entertainment and lifestyle channels.
It was Indiantelevision.com that reported that NDTV Group had floated Networks Plc, UK, which would play a big role in bringing in investments for the entertainment and other non news channels.

The Rs 5.85 billion funding that NDTV has secured corroborates an earlier media report that had said that $106 million would be invested into NDTV Imagine while $25.23 million would be pumped into NDTV Lifestyle, a channel dedicated to travel, food, fashion, shopping and health and wellness.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) cleared NDTV's FDI application in its meeting held on 14 February.

NDTV Networks will be driving the group's new business initiatives worldwide comprising entertainment, lifestyle, convergence, outsourcing, new channels set up in different countries and software/technology development.