MUMBAI: The BBC World Service is creating opportunities for Indian digital and tech companies as it expands services on mobile platforms in the region. Interested companies will then have a few weeks to work on their proposal and submit their idea.

The BBC’s expansion this year will reach all across India with the launch of new TV and digital services in Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and Telugu, while current services in Tamil, Hindi and English will be enhanced. Further to this, the BBC’s base in New Delhi will become its biggest outside the UK.

The BBC has been leading in digital innovation across new story formats and platforms in India - this has included a WhatsApp coverage feed during the 2014 Indian Elections and the use of LINE for BBC Hindi content. It is now looking to expand its digital experimentation and collaboration in an exciting new project powered by the BBC’s digital innovation team Connected Studio.

There will be three events this month to kick off the search for experienced digital companies with great ideas, as follows:

19 April, Gurgaon: http://bit.ly/2nCOE6x

21 April, Hyderabad: http://bit.ly/2nquETG

25 April, Bangalore: http://bit.ly/2nROHOa

Details will be presented to attendees at the events and BBC experts will available.

This initiative continues the BBC’s investment in digital innovation across Asia. Information on past Connected Studio briefs and the innovative ideas that were prototyped and built with small digital companies across Africa and Asia is available here.

BBC Connected Studio is an open innovation programme that explores and develops new digital ideas for BBC Online. It works closely with the wider digital and creative industries, sharing tools, assets and expertise to meet specific digital briefs from teams across the BBC.