BBC Hindi service saved from closure

The BBC's Hindi short-wave radio service has been saved from closure after Foreign Secretary William Hague agreed to provide extra funds for BBC World Service.

Hague has allocated an extra £2.2m annually to the global broadcaster for the next three years from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office budget. This represents an increase in the World Service's funding as a proportion of the FCO budget to just over 14.5%.

The BBC Trust has also approved the reallocation of £9m of existing World Service funding to editorial investment over the next three years. The BBC said that the strategy would "mitigate the impact of recent funding cuts, following lower-than-expected restructuring costs and pension contributions".

The additional funds will support a range of "priority frontline services", including services for the Arab world, the Somali service and the Hindi short-wave radio broadcasts.

The World Service's FCO grant was controversially reduced by 16% in the government's Spending Review last October, requiring the division to secure savings of £42m per annum by 2013/14, when it will be funded by the BBC licence fee.

In response to the cuts, a number of BBC broadcast services were closed or scaled back, including parts of BBC Arabic and BBC Russian.

Short-wave radio service BBC Hindi was initially earmarked for complete closure, but leading cultural and commercial figures persuaded the BBC to retain an hour-long evening news and current affairs bulletin in Hindi on an interim basis.

The extra funds have now permanently saved BBC Hindi from closure, which author Vikram Seth warned would have contributed to "a great loss of goodwill and increase of mistrust" amongst millions of Indians.

Discussing today's announcement, BBC chairman Lord Patten said: "As Aung San Suu Kyi said only this week, the World Service is a lifeline for those hungry for unbiased news and information about their country and the wider world.

"It is also an export for British values of fairness, accuracy and impartiality. I am delighted that we have been able to work with the Foreign Secretary to direct some more funding to these services. The additional money will help protect BBC services in the areas where they are most valued and needed."

He added: "However, it does not mean that we will be able to restore all of what has been lost, and there will still need to be some cuts to the World Service as we have known it.

"We are determined that when we take full responsibility for funding of the World Service after 2014, it will have the priority it deserves."

The World Service said that its new funding will allow for investment in new platforms and services for emerging markets, with the details on this currently being worked out.