Indian tycoon’s bid for broadcaster stokes media freedom worries

New Delhi (AFP) - An Indian billionaire close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to buy a broadcaster seen as the last major critical voice on television, stoking fears about media freedom in the world’s largest democracy.

Gautam Adani -- Asia’s richest person, with interests ranging from Australian coal mines to India’s busiest ports -- announced late Tuesday that his firm had indirectly acquired a 29-percent stake in NDTV and was bidding for a further 26 percent.

NDTV said that the move came “without any discussion” with the broadcaster, “or the consent of the NDTV founders”, journalist Radhika Roy and economist Prannoy Roy.

Its two channels, one in Hindi and one in English, stand out among India’s myriad rolling news broadcasters for inviting on critics of the government as well as their hard-hitting reporting.

It has already been hit by a slew of legal cases that its owners said were a result of its reporting.
On Wednesday morning an employee at NDTV told AFP that there was a “general sense of shock and disbelief” in the newsroom following the announcement.

“We only found out from other news agency flashes and channels about the takeover and then all hell broke loose,” the employee said, asking to remain anonymous.