New Delhi: Estimated to be worth at least $ 5 billion, media in India is one of the fastest growing and most exciting industry with a potential to become to the Indian economy what Information Technology (IT) has been so far, says a new book.

"In India in the last three years, it has become increasingly likely that the media industry could be to the Indian economy what IT has been so far, a massive opportunity to generate investment, revenues, exports and employment," says the book 'The Indian Media Business' by Vanita Kohli.

IT is currently a $ 9.6 billion (approx.Rs.4800 crore) business and it has grown from almost nothing a decade ago, the book says.

The book, claimed by the publishers to be the first one in the country to throw light on the media industry and its all five major segments- print, television, film, music and radio has all that one wanted to know about media but was afraid to ask, says Peter Mukerjea, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Star in his foreword.

"We are a nation that is nowhere near media saturated. As media consumption habits continue to evolve in India, a book on the Indian media business in the country, I am certain, is just a percussor to several others that will follow on the subject," he adds.

The Indian media industry employs several million people and the numbers on both adspend and penetration are mind-boggling.

About 80 million television homes, 7.5 million personal computers (PCs), 4.2 million Internet subscribers and of course over 15 million mobile phones- are some of the figures that shows the enormous growth of the media business. Films, music, news, cricket and other events all keep increasing the demand for more media and vice versa, Kohli says.

Kohli says that unlike IT or BT, the burden of history is too strong on Indian media business. Large portions of it like film, music or publishing were old industries with their own idiosyncrasies. Some like film are extremely disorganised while some like cable have got hopelessly criminalised.

Unlike the US, however, India does not have a single media conglomerate worth its name. While Viacom or News Corp can simply capture, retain and harvest value better because they own media across geographies, industries and technologies, In India the film industry still may have to depend on dodgy distributors to stick a few posters to promote new films.

"Even the Bennet Coleman & Company Ltd. (BCCL), by far India's largest media company is largely dependent on one edition to bring in a bulk of its revenues and profits", the book says and adds that "except for Mid-Day or Living Media, very few companies have had success with branching across media-whether it is broadcasting, films or anything else".

PTI