Google says an expanded News Initiative will accompany the signing of more than 30 Indian publishers to its News Showcase, a move it describes as “support of the news industry in India”.

A statement by new product management vice president Brad Bender and Google India vice president Sanjay Gupta say the “slew of investments” will help to support the country’s large and diverse news industry.

“These investments will help people find quality journalism, contribute to the sustainability of news organisations, and expand our programmes under the Google News Initiative, enabling newsrooms to engage their readers in new and compelling ways through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond,” they say.

Among those in the News Showcase rollout were the Hindu Group, HT Digital Streams, Indian Express Group, ABP Live, Amar Ujala, Deccan Herald, Punjab Kesari and The Telegraph India.

Google says 700 news publications in more than a dozen countries had already signed for the product. The company says expansion of GNI programmes in India will see 50,000 journalists and journalism students trained over the next three years, the introduction of “several new programmes” to help small and mid-sized publications achieve financial sustainability, Advertising Lab support for more than 800 small and mid-sized Indian news organisations, and a more comprehensive Transformation Lab programme for 20 local small and mid-sized publishers.

Google says the new and expanded programmes “build on years of investment in India” beginning with the launch of a training network in 2018 in partnership with BoomLive, DataLeads and Internews.