In a bid to drive penetration, CNBC has also decided to move from a pay to a free-to-air channel for a short time. "We are planning to stay as a free-to-air channel for the next six months. We need to drive viewership," a CNBC source said.

Though the snapping of ties with the Star TV network will take place in November, the exact date is being worked out. "We will no longer be a part of the Star network's distribution system. The packaged pricing of our channel along with Star's will stop," a senior CNBC official told The Financial Express.

CNBC has decided to set up its own distribution system. The company is scouting for a senior executive to head its distribution team in the country.

The recent move comes close on the heels of CNBC forming a joint venture company, CNBC India, with the Delhi-based television content provider TV18.

TV18, sources said, will be officially designated as the distribution agent for CNBC in November. The TV software company is already looking at the ad sales of the business news channel.

CNBC's decision to break away from Star TV is partly driven by its weak distribution presence. Though 290 decoders were supplied to the cable operators for the pay channel in the first year, no additional boxes were installed in 1999, a CNBC official said. "The penetration of our channel would have been higher if we had handled the distribution directly instead of giving it to Star TV," he added.

CNBC, which is priced at Rs two per subscriber, was recently dropped by a number of cable operators. SitiCable, Zee Network's distribution arm, switched off the channel as part of its battle with Star TV. "We have 60 decoder boxes under our network system. In 40 boxes, we have switched it off," a SitiCable official said.

CNBC formed a part of the Star network's pay bouquet. "There was a conflict of interest. While Star wanted to be aggressive on its pay bouquet, CNBC wanted to increase its penetration," a source said.

CNBC plans to install 2,000 decoder boxes in the next six months and increase its reach from around three million homes to 10 million within eight months. With increased focus on India-specific programming, CNBC India expects to see a rise in its ad revenue. Which is why the channel plans to go free-to-air temporarily, at least till its distribution and programming is in place. "We want to increase viewership. This is the only way we can attract ad revenue," a CNBC official said.

The channel will focus on developing the afternoon time band through the launch of several shows and a live stock market report.