Murdoch to invest 100 mn on Indian channels

{image-rupert murdock_04082008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Mumbai, Aug 4: Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation eyes on investing 100 million American dollars to launch six regional TV channels under star brand in India.

"I'm guessing the investments will be in the region of US 100 million dollars (107 million Australian dollars) and we will launch within 12 months," the Australian quoted Murdoch as saying at a news conference.

Murdoch also said News Corp wasn't eyeing any equity-stake purchase in India's local daily newspapers.

Dow Index for India

The Dow Jones India Titan 30 Index was launched by the News Corporation Chairman and Cheif Executive Rupert Murdoch on Monday, Aug 4.

This exclusive blue-chip index of Dow Jones&Company, a News Corp company, will track the stock market performance of prominent Indian companies and will be licensed to financial institutions as the basis of investment products such as exchange-traded funds, Mr Murdoch said.

He said ''We wil see huge capital flows both from and to India in coming years and that is an opportunity for us as a financial iformantion company, as well as for international investors who want to take advantage of this profound trend.'' The Dow Jones India Index measures the performance of the 30 largest and most liquid stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). The final composition of the index is based on ranking of free-float market capitalisation and 12 month average daily trading volume, according to official sources.

The top five companies in the index include Reliance Industries Ltd, Infosys Technologies Ltd, HDFC Ltd, Bharti Airtel and Larsen&Toubro Ltd. The three biggest sectors represented in the index are Financials Basic Materials and Oil&Gas, sources added.