The British Broadcasting Corporation’s India operation hit a hurdle after its offices in Delhi and Mumbai were raided by tax authorities of India. The company will split its operations into two separate companies in order to comply with the strict rules for companies receiving foreign investment. An independent Indian company will be providing the content of BBC.
BBC is going to acquire 26 percent share in Collective Newsroom, a company set up by former employees of BBC. This company will also directly employ around 200 staff who have been working for BBC producing in English as well as other Indian languages like Punjabi and Hindi.
Another small team will remain with the broadcasters which will be producing content for BBC’s English language shows. The move comes in as the government probes into the company’s accounts. BBC is accused of not disclosing profits as per the rules for companies receiving foreign investment.
The government raided the offices based in Delhi and Mumbai soon after BBC aired a documentary about the communal riots of Gujarat and involvement of Narendra Modi in it. However, authorities denied any relation between the raids and the documentary, calling them tax surveys.
