Indian billionaire Gautam Adani sees the takeover of news broadcaster New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV)as a “responsibility” rather than a business opportunity, he said in an interview with the Financial Times on Friday.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate run by Adani, Asia’s richest person, unveiled plans late in August to acquire a majority stake in NDTV, seen as a bastion of independent media, a Reuters news dispatch, quoting the FT interview, said.
The takeover attempt has triggered concerns among journalists and politicians that a change of ownership could undermine NDTV’s editorial integrity.
Founded in 1988 and owned by husband-and-wife team Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, NDTV previously said that the move by Adani Group “was executed without any input from, conversation with, or consent of the NDTV founders”.
“Independence means if government has done something wrong, you say it’s wrong,” Adani said in the FT interview, adding, “But at the same time, you should have courage when the government is doing the right thing every day. You have to also say that.”
Adani added that he has invited NDTV’s owner-founder Prannoy Roy to remain as chair when the acquisition is completed.
NDTV’s business rivals include Times Group’s Times Now and Network18’s CNN-News18, controlled by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.