Star, India's Balaji eye $23mln joint venture-paper

Star group is in talks with India's Balaji Telefilms Ltd for a 1-billion-rupee joint venture to produce regional language programming.

Star group is in talks with India's Balaji Telefilms Ltd for a 1-billion-rupee ($23 million) joint venture to produce regional language programming, the

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Economic Times

said on Thursday.

Star, India's top broadcaster, is expected to hold 74 percent in the new company that will make Telugu language programming, for the southern Andhra Pradesh state, the newspaper said.

A deal is expected to be signed in the next two months, it said, citing a top official close to the development.

Star already holds nearly 26 per cent in Balaji.

A spokesman for Star said the report was "speculative". Balaji, India's top producer of television programming, could not be immediately reached.