1. PUBLICATION OF INDIAN EDITIONS OF FOREIGN TECHNICAL/SCIENTIFIC/ SPECIALITYMAGAZINES/JOURNALS/PERIODICALS;
2. FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN INDIAN ENTITIES PUBLISHING SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL/SPECIALITY MAGAZINES/JOURNALS/PERIODICALS

The Union Government have decided to allow,

• Publication of Indian editions of foreign scientific, technical and speciality magazines/periodicals/journals; and
• Foreign investment upto 100% in Indian entities publishing scientific/technical and speciality magazines/periodicals/journals.

1. Application ( Download Application Form)
   • An application shall be made to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in the prescribed format to determine the nature of contents of the publication.
   • Application fee of Rs. 5000/- (Rupees Five thousand only) shall have to be deposited through a Demand Draft in favour of the Pay & Accounts Officer, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, payable at New Delhi.
2. Processing
   1. The application shall be processed by the Ministry of I&B, after due inter-Ministerial consultations, to decide whether the proposed publication is covered under the category of scientific, technical or speciality magazine/periodical/journal. Representatives of the concerned Ministries/specialist bodies and language experts, as found necessary will be associated in this task. In appropriate cases, the Ministry of I&B will issue:
      • An approval, subject to compliance with the provisions of the Press and Registration of Books Act and Rules made there under for publication of the foreign journal; or
      • A No Objection Certificate (NOC) for foreign investment, a copy of which would be sent to RNI/SIA/RBI and the applicant.
   2. Determination of category assigned to the publication(s) is liable for review by the Ministry of I&B if the contents of the publication(s) undergo change at a later date.
   3. • In cases where both FDI and FII investment is envisaged, the applicant may approach the FIPB/RBI for clearance after obtaining the No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of I&B.
      • In cases involving only portfolio investment, the applicant may approach the Reserve Bank of India, for further clearance, if any, after obtaining the No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of I&B.
      • The Ministry of I&B will keep the Secretariat for Industrial Assistance and the Reserve Bank of India informed of the FDI projected by the Company and the balance permissible foreign investment on the portfolio investment route, while communicating the No Objection.
3. Title of the Publication
   • Title verification shall continue to be done by the Press Registrar as per existing procedure.
4. Foreign Investment
   • Total foreign investment upto 100% may be allowed. Guidelines of the Ministry of Finance on FDI and portfolio investment would apply.
   • All cases involving Foreign Investment shall be handled by the prescribed agencies, viz. FDI on the government approval route through the mechanism of the FIPB and portfolio investment by the RBI.

GUIDELINES FOR SYNDICATION ARRANGEMENTS BY NEWSPAPERS:

All registered newspapers (Indian publications) are authorized to make syndication arrangements for procuring material including photographs, cartoons, crossword puzzles, articles and features from foreign publications (content provider) under automatic approval route subject to the following conditions: -

• The total material so procured and actually printed in an issue of the Indian publication does not exceed 20% of the total printed area of that issue,
• The syndicated material does not include full copy of the editorial page or the front page of the foreign publication,
• The mast head of the content provider publication is not utilized in the Indian publication,
• Credit to the content provider is necessarily given prominently as a byline in the Indian publication,
• The material procured under syndication arrangement is such that has already been published in the content provider publication.

Any case involving relaxation of any of the above conditions would require to be examined by the Ministry of I&B, and, before any material is actually procured under syndication arrangement beyond the above noted conditions, the Indian publication should have applied for and obtained prior approval of the Ministry of I&B.

These guidelines would not apply to the cases where Ministry of I&B has issued its approval/no objection certificate for publication of facsimile edition of a foreign newspaper.