68 pc digitisation of the Cable TV households done in 4 metros

The ministry is aiming at completing digitisation of cable sector in the four metros by October 31 and in the rest of the country by December 2014.

"A recent review of the digitisation progress by the I & B Ministry has revealed that 68 per cent Cable TV digitisation has already been achieved in the four metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai," a ministry statement said.

It claimed that city wise, the achievement of digitisation in Mumbai is 95 per cent, in Kolkata 67 per cent, in Delhi 53 per cent and in Chennai 49 per cent.

Officials said installation of Set Top Boxes in Cable TV homes is one of the most crucial pre-conditions for the digital switch over and with just six weeks remaining, the ministry was constantly reviewing the progress.

The ministry said that as per 2011 census data, the average TV penetration in the four metros is about 80 per cent.

According to the census data, of the 103.76 lakh households in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, 82.59 lakh have TV sets of which 25.59 lakh households have Direct To Home (DTH) connection.