The BBC has handed over its newsroom publishing license in India to Collective Newsroom, a private limited company, the public service broadcaster’s first license to operate globally across the world. The move comes a year after the Income Tax department conducted raids on its offices.

Collective Newsroom, founded by four former BBC staff, will begin operations on 10 April. An entirely India-based company, it will produce content for the BBC’s digital services in English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.

Collective Newsroom Private Limited was incorporated on October 27 last year under the regulations of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).

“We are not exclusive with the BBC. The BBC is our first client. We have a production deal with the BBC and we will produce content for the BBC’s six different language services and the Indian English YouTube channel,” said Rupa Collective Newsroom Chief Jha, the executive, told New Delhi TV.

“When producing content for the BBC, we will bear in mind the BBC Editorial Guidelines, such as the type of journalism the BBC embraces. Maintaining trust in the BBC brand is our responsibility to carry forward.

“What we do will be completely consistent with the BBC’s journalistic values. We have confidence in the BBC and the BBC has confidence in us; that’s why we do all this. We have to do something that can be trusted,” she said.

The restructuring was driven by new foreign direct investment (FDI) rules introduced in 2020, which imposed a 26% limit on FDI in India’s digital media industry.

Companies exceeding the 26% foreign direct investment limit must reduce their foreign investments by October 2021 to comply with the regulation.

BBC World Service India is 99.99% owned by its British public broadcaster.

The BBC has sought to acquire a 26% stake in its recently launched Collective Newsroom company, a source told NDTV.

“There are many options before us. Given that the BBC does not want to lose its business in India or cut jobs, nor does it want it to become financially unviable, it forces us to think outside the box. According to the legal advice the BBC has received, per Individuals are leaning toward this as a viable option.” indian express.

In February last year, the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices aired the controversial two-part series “India: The Modi Question”, which featured the 2002 Gujarat riots, followed by The office conducted a tax search.