Piracy costing CD, DVD manufacturers Rs.5 bn annually: Assocham

New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) Increasing sales of pirated CDs, DVDs and other software has led to manufacturers in the national capital losing around Rs.5 billion annually, said a report by an industry lobby released Wednesday.

According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), pirated sales of these products is also leading to an annual revenue collection loss of about Rs.1.5 billion (Rs.150 crore) for the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

It estimated that the Indian entertainment industry loses over Rs.160 billion (Rs.16,000 crore) annually because of counterfeiting and piracy.

'Genuine manufacturers in the entertainment segment such as T-Series, Music Today, HMV, Saregama, MG Traders, Morgan, Gnomon Astrotech have brought to the notice of Assocham about increasing piracy on their products which have already caused them a market share loss of over 30 percent in the last five years,' Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat said in a statement.

The chamber said piracy could hurt the revenue generation of original manufacturers in Delhi and its neighbouring region to the extent of over Rs.15 billion in the next five-seven years as the purchasers of pirated products, between in the age group of 18-25 years, was growing at a significant pace.