A raid by Indian tax authorities last year prompted the BBC to split its Indian operations into two separate companies.
The BBC has announced the creation of an independent Indian-owned company called Collective Newsroom to produce content for its six regional channels that broadcast in Indian languages, including Hindi and Punjabi.
The BBC has applied to acquire a 26% stake in Collective Newsroom, but the company has been forced to leave the broadcaster in order to comply with strict laws for companies receiving foreign funding introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. will become almost independent. .
A small team of reporters and producers who produce programs for the UK-based BBC’s English radio and television news channels will remain in India and work directly for the broadcaster.
The highly unusual overhaul of the British public broadcaster’s operations comes after the BBC’s bureau in India was raided in 2023 in a multi-day investigation by Indian tax authorities.
The raid, which the government called a “tax raid,” came after the BBC aired a documentary examining Mr. Modi’s role in deadly communal riots that occurred when he was Gujarat’s chief minister. .
The Indian government condemned the documentary and responded by invoking emergency legislation to ban clips and footage of the documentary from being shared, even though it was only aired in the UK.
Not long after dozens of officials from India’s Income Tax Department arrived at the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai. Some senior officials were interrogated for three days.
The government denied the raid was connected to the documentary and was part of an investigation into the BBC’s breach of India’s strict rules on foreign investment by failing to fully disclose its profits.
The BBC, which has been based in India since 1940, continues to produce Indian content on its channels broadcasting not only in English but also in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. He said he is working on it.
Under the new structure, four former BBC employees will set up an Indian-owned private company to produce content broadcast on the BBC’s six regional language channels. The company plans to hire around 200 staff who previously worked directly with the BBC’s regional news channels in India.
Collective Newsroom will also be able to create content for other broadcasters in India. It is unclear whether it will have to adhere to the same standards of impartiality that are held for all BBC programming.
Collective Newsroom CEO Rupa Jha described the new operation as “an independent news organization that tells the facts, works in the public interest and listens to diverse voices and perspectives.” explained.
Jha said they have a “clear and ambitious mission to produce the most trusted, creative and courageous journalism”.
The 90 employees will remain in India and will be employed directly by the BBC in the UK, reporting to editors in London. Content produced in India will be accessible to audiences in India through services such as the BBC World News Channel and BBC World Service Radio, but publication will take place from its UK headquarters.
