YouTube launches its Indian version

YouTube has launched its Indian version, YouTube India (www.youtube.co.in). The portal will focus on videos from and for India.
  
YouTube India has tied up with Ministry of Tourism, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), NDTV, Rajshri Media, Zoom, UTVi and Music Today for their channels on the website. The model for the revenue sharing arrangements between YouTube India and its partners is similar to Google’s AdSense program.
 
Rajshri will launch a series called Akar Birbal Remixed as three-minute episodes on Rajshri.com and YouTube India simultaneously. The Ministry of Tourism has created an Incredible India channel on the site. YouTube India has tied up with the IITs for instructional video for engineering students. Right now, the website has 1,600 hours of video content available on the IIT channel.  Various artistes including magician Shailini Shah and music band Da-Saz have also created their own pages on the portal.

Shailesh Rao, managing director of Google India, said, “YouTube India is a platform for Indians to communicate and share ideas through the powerful medium of video.”