MUMBAI: The positive thrust that the cable and DTH industry has been receiving from the current Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Prakash Javadekar is getting encouraging response from the industry.

While the government has classified set top boxes (STBs) as telecom equipment to encourage indigenous manufacturing of STBs, Dish TV has decided to tap into the emerging domestic market.

Reporting improved results, Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel said that the company is ‘re-evaluating possibilities for domestic manufacturing of STBs’.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish said, “We are exploring the idea of domestic STB manufacturing given the incentive and fillip that the government is keen to provide to domestic manufacturers.” He added that there seems to be an overall trust of the government which is the underlying assumption that indigenous manufacturing will save costs as compared to importing boxes.

Venkateish said that the company is currently evaluating the cost structure for setting up an STB manufacturing unit that will not just provide boxes to Dish TV but to others in the industry as well. Though the company would have to invest in capex and opex for the manufacturing unit, whether this will help them save up the additional cost of custom duties that imported boxes incur, is still a question mark.

Dish TV has reported an addition of 332,000 subscribers in Q2 2015 with lower losses at Rs 15 crore as compared to the previous quarter.