BBC expands in India with four more regional languages

In its largest expansion drive since the 1940s, the British Broadcasting Corp (BBC) has launched four news services in India in Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Telugu languages.

The new services are available online and on social media, with a Telugu TV bulletin, BBC Prapancham, starting on Wednesday, the news provider said in a statement.

BBC News already broadcasts to 28 million people in India in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and English.

Director of BBC World Services group, Francesca Unsworth, told reporters on Wednesday that the Indian operation has become the biggest outside the UK.

"Our values will remain the same with the new channels, which is to inform, educate and entertain... We do not want to be restricted to Delhi-centric, capital-based reporting and will bring out the stories of rural India," she said.

-IANS