MUMBAI: BBC has launched news services in four Indian languages – Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu and Punjabi as it expanded business in the country for which BBC director-general Anthony William "Tony" Hall has arrived. BBC Duniya, a nightly television news bulletin in Hindi, has also been relaunched; it will be telecast on India News.

The Punjabi service will initially be online and on social media and include video coverage. BBC, in its blurb, advertised Punjabi as the eleventh most spoken language in the world, used by 100 million people -- the highest in Pakistan. Among the popular Punjabis, it stated, are the former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, seven Indian army chiefs and six Air Force chiefs.

Formally opening a BBC bureau in Delhi, BBC’s largest outside the UK, the D-G said that the audience in India had trusted the BBC for decades for bringing them independent and impartial news, and millions would get the chance to access BBC in their own languages, IBNS reported. Expanding the news bureau in Delhi and opening two television studios is a part of the UK Government's Rs 25 billion (GBP 291 million) investment in India.

BBC, which has now partnered India News and Eenadu TV, was already held in great regard across India, and BBC News was being offered to new audience, especially the next generation. BBC has recruited 150 smart journalists from across the country, the D-G added.

The new services would also be available online and on social media, with BBC Prapancham, a Telugu TV bulletin which will be aired on Eenadu TV (Telangana) and Eenadu TV (Andhra Pradesh).

Eenadu TV Network CEO K Bapineedu said, that the BBC initiative to produce international stories in the Telugu language to be aired on ETV Network will add value to their endeavour of reaching the Telugu audience with the highest reach and authenticity.

India News operator-owner iTV Network founder-promoter Kartikeya Sharma said that BBC was famed for its unbiased and well-researched content which would be reaching its viewers in a format and language they could comprehend.