Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar today called upon Indian manufacturers to produce set top boxes to meet the growing demand created by the cable TV digitisation drive, and sought their suggestions to take the indigenisation process forward.
Mr Javadekar sought suggestions directly through e-mail or his twitter account.
"I invite Indian manufacturers to produce and provide set top boxes for indigenisation of digitisation," Mr Javadekar posted on Twitter.
"Manufacturers may contact me on my twitter with hashtag #indigenisationOfDigitisation or email me at pjavadekar@gmail.com," he said in another tweet.
"I'll take the suggestions from Indian manufacturers to take #IndigenisationOfDigitisation forward," he said in yet another tweet.
The erstwhile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had embarked on the digitisation drive for the cable TV sector, which required installation of set top boxes (STBs).
However, during the first two phases of digitisation that covered major cities, the vast majority of STBs installed were made by foreign manufacturers.
As per the deadline set up by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the digitisation drive should cover the entire country by the end of this year for which crores of STBs are required.