The Parliamentary Committee has indicated that it wants an extension of time for the cable industry to go digital, says a report.
The government has set 30 June as the date for digitisation in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
Worried that adequate number of set top boxes may not become available in time, the Committee has said the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) should coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the issue of extension of the proposed deadline for switchover to digital addressable systems in the first phase.
The Standing Committee for Information Technology while examining the demands for grants of the DeitY said the manufacturing of STB should lead from the assembling to finding out the solution for the required core technology through Indian R&D initiatives.
It says the proposed extension should be considered after having detailed strategy with regard to manufacturing of the required number of STBs through indigenous production and also finalising the policy issue with regard to providing competitive edge to Indian manufactured STBs.
