The latest decision by the government to delay the deadline for digitization in the four metro cities to October 31, 2012 could lead to huge financial losses for the DTH (direct-to-home) service providers in the country.

The delay could lead to huge financial looses to broadcasters, multi-system operators and others businesses who have already invested large amount of money and were planning to begin digital transmission from July.

The government of India's Information & Broadcasting ministry had announced a deadline for the cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai to move to the digital TV by June 30, 2012. However, the slow response by the people forced the government to delay the deadline by four months.

The government says that the deadline was delayed only after intensive and extensive consultations with all the stakeholders and keeping in views the interests of the consumers. However, the companies in the sector say that it will put a huge strain on the country.

The industry will have to bare the additional burden of inventory carrying costs and other investments in infrastructure creation as the firms had made large scale facilitate seamless adoption of this technology.