India is one of the fastest growing countries in the world and the second fastest in the BRICS grouping. India’s GDP grew at an average of more than 7.8 per cent per annum in real terms between 2003 and 2012 （World Bank，2014）. The relatively low growth rate of 4.4 per cent in 2013 is projected to again take an upward trend，reaching 6.8 per cent by 2016 （IMF，2014：184）. Given the context of India’s rapidly growing economy，it is to be expected that its media would have also expanded rapidly in recent years；however，the growth of the media sector has been even faster than the economy as a whole. Media growth has consistently outstripped GDP growth by several percentage points in the last decade，achieving growth rates in the double digits （Thussu，2012；FICCI，2006；FICCI，2008；FICCI-KPMG，2010；FICCI-KPMG，2011；FICCI-KPMG，2012）. This growth is expected to continue at rates of up to 16 per cent per annum （FICCI-KPMG，2013；FICCI-KPMG，2014）. The result is one of the largest-and probably the most energetic and vibrant-media landscapes in the world，and also one that sharply deviates from the shrinking news markets in many of the developed economies.

There is no doubt that Indian media are significant-they serve one of every six humans，the largest democratically governed population on the planet. Even with low penetration rates，Indian newspapers reach more people than in any other country. Many of the statistics for Indian media are an order of magnitude larger than other BRICS countries. For instance，there were more than 94000 publications registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India at the end of March 2013 （RNI，2014）. The numbers rise every year：7337 new publications were registered during 2012-2013 （ibid.）. Other media show similar or higher growth figures in terms of numbers of outlets and audiences as well as revenues.

However，the story of the growth of Indian media is one of the great untold-or less told-stories. It has not received as much international scholarly attention as the national media systems of many other countries. India’s relatively sheltered economy and，in particular，barriers against international investment in India’s news media，undoubtedly have a role to play in this seeming lack of interest. Language differences and the Indian media’s limited international reach and impact in the West outside the limited sphere of diasporic audiences are also important factors. In addition，Indian media are hard to understand or even describe. Data is often unavailable but，more than that，the rapidly multiplying and expanding newspapers，television channels，radio stations and mobile networks reflect a continental scale and diversity. No compartments become readily apparent into which various segments of the Indian media can be neatly boxed and categorized. Bollywood may be the most prolific film factory in the world but it is just one of more than a dozen regional and language-specific film industries in India.

Across media，multiple languages and layers weave a web of intertwining and divergences that defies patterns as soon as they are established. Media operations vary widely on every parameter，including size，financing，patterns of ownership，relationship to power，methods of production，genre and approach. On the one hand there are one-man operations in remote areas producing content on obsolete equipment in a language spoken by a few hundred thousand people and，on the other hand，there are large diversified corporate entities that，among other businesses，own large newspapers，radio stations，web operations and television channels reaching tens of millions and making profits in the billions of rupees. Unlike many other countries，neither corporatization nor political constraints are dominant，homogenizing factors. This diversity of media and the dozens of languages in which they operate makes it difficult to classify Indian media as one media system. Neither do Indian media behave as one system. The dissimilarities are often more pronounced than resemblances，despite several common overarching frameworks，such as a common national boundary and political system，legal structure and regulatory mechanisms. The diversity is pronounced to the extent that，across India，the media do not exhibit homogeneity with respect to any given sets of parameters，including the four “dimensions” of Hallin and Mancini （2004），the development of media markets，political parallelism，journalistic professionalism and state intervention. This chapter examines not only the growth trajectory of Indian media but also some of the diversity they encompass in an attempt to describe this multi-faceted and multi-layered media landscape.

Historical Roots

Building upon traditional communication traditions，news media in modern forms have a history of nearly two and a half centuries in India. The first pri