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News Corp to invest 100 million dollars in Indian TV channels

NEW DELHI - Media giant News Corporation will invest 100 million dollars to launch six regional television channels in India, its chairman Rupert Murdoch said Monday.

‘We will invest 100 million dollars in the next 12 months to launch six regional channels under the Star brand in India,’ Murdoch was quoted as saying by the PTI news agency.

Murdoch, who was in India's western Mumbai city, said he would double the staff at Dow Jones Newswires from 25 to 70 journalists, the PTI reported.

Murdoch's News Corp, which last year acquired Dow Jones in a 5 billion dollar buyout, also launched the Dow Jones index for India.

‘We are unveiling the Dow Jones India Titans - a 30-stock index tracking the stock-market performance of prominent Indian companies,’ Murdoch said.

The development underlines Murdoch's plans to expand his companies in India, one of the world's fastest growing media markets. During his India tour, Murdoch earlier visited Delhi and met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, chairwoman of the ruling United Progressive Alliance.

In the meetings, the media tycoon reportedly sought a higher foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the print media.

News Corp is keen to enter India's print media segment but is unable to do so due to the Indian government's FDI ceiling of 26 per cent.