BBC Worldwide has appointed the former Discovery India head, Deepak Shourie, as director of its South Asian operations.

Shourie will be based in New Delhi and will work with the senior management strategy team in Singapore and London. He will report to Mark Whitehead, the senior VP and general manager of BBC Worldwide Channels Asia.

During his seven-year stint at Discovery Communications India as EVP and managing director, Shourie launched Discovery Travel & Living in India, and successfully created Discovery's distribution joint venture with Sony Entertainment Television India.

Prior to that, Shourie served as Group GM at Living Media.

"Deepak brings a great depth of knowledge, experience and numerous personal relationships that will enable us to shift into the next stage of growth for the channels business in the region," said Whitehead.

Shourie said that he was thrilled to be part of BBC Worldwide's channels business in South Asia as the business is going through a tremendous period of growth.