Pay-television broadcaster Star India has been awarded licences to launch up to 10 new regional sports channels in the country.
Star India already has a significant presence in India, with eight channels currently in operation across the country.
The award of the licences was confirmed by the country’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, according to the Economic Times newspaper.
Although the official refused to divulge further details, the newspaper said that the new channels would include one standard-definition and one high-definition channel each in Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
Star India experimented with regional services during last year’s Cricket World Cup national team competition by broadcasting matches in multiple regional language feeds.
The broadcaster this month signed a three-season extension, from 2016-17 to 2018-19, to its long-running rights deal for football’s English Premier League.