Centre to Launch Channel 'DD International' to Push India's View for Global Audience

Prasar Bharati, India's national public broadcaster, has issued a tender for a consultant to devise a strategy for launching a channel that will have an international outreach. This comes at a time when the Indian Government is being heavily criticized by international media agencies, however, according to Prashar Bharati officials the tender is not a spur-of-the-moment decision and the idea has been around for a long time.

The Expression of Interest (EOI) was issued for a consulting service to prepare a comprehensive project report "on the establishment of DD International." "In view of the strategic objective to build a global presence for Doordarshan and to establish an international voice of India, it is envisaged to establish DD International." Further, it said that the EOI "is being issued for a Detailed Project Report (DPR) from reputed global consultants will experience in advising international broadcaster/media houses on the project of this nature."

The tender stated that the objective of the channel is to "project India's point of view globally on contemporary issues of both global and domestic significance" and to "tell the India story to a global audience." It also stated that it has in view for DD International to be the "authoritative global media source on India through credible, exhaustive and accurate global news service."

It appears, as you go through the tender, that Prasar Bharati looks forward to setting up bureaus "across the globe" and the consultant will identify locations, plan a roadmap, and also come up with plans for "24×7 world service streams" and "prioritizing geography-specific streams." Prasar Bharati also wants a strategy roadmap for "a Global News Service based on DD India content."

The government of India is currently being chastised by the international media houses for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its vaccination drive. The international press on several occasions has also called out India for issues pertaining to curbing free speech and its authoritarian style of governance that contrasts with its democratic ideals. Amid such international criticism, the tender brings to light India's willingness to push forward the Indian agenda on a global platform.

The approval for this project was granted by the Prasar Bharati board in March, said the Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Sekhar Vempati. He took to Twitter on March 25 to thank the board for taking important decisions including a "key initiative approved by the Board today" to "develop a project blueprint for Doordarshan International."

He aims to construct the six road maps for the project in 6-8 months which he says might get delayed by a few weeks or months due to the pandemic. "This is something that was something long overdue, to have an international presence for Doordarshan," he said.

He compares the upcoming channel to "the first iteration of BBC or Al Jazeera." He said in the initial phase of the news will focus on news reporting like BBC World Service but will later 'evolve' to display India's cultural heritage, something that the international community digs for.