Abu Dhabi, Feb 6 (IANS/WAM): In a bid to attract expatriate Indian viewers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), e-vision -- a subsidiary of Etisalat, the Gulf nation's leading telecom services provider -- has partnered with Star TV to offer 17 new channels as part of its eLife TV Choice Asian Basic package.

The channels, which feature programmes in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam, will allow customers to view TV content ranging from top rated television shows to Bollywood entertainment and breaking news.

In addition to the leading channels of Star Plus, Life OK, Star Gold, Star Jalsha and Star Vijay, the package also features six new channels: Movies OK, Jalsha Movies, Star Pravah, Star Utsav, Suvarna and Suvarna Plus.

The prices for subscriptions for the Asian Choice Basic Package start at 30 dirhams a month (around $8).

"This is a big step forward for the UAE TV industry and should excite all eLife TV subscribers as we continue to offer more channels, greater choice and flexibility,” Humaid Rashid Sahoo, chief executive officer of e-vision, said.

“We have endeavoured to bring the market's favourite Star channels that will provide greater value to our offerings with legitimate access to such content in the UAE," he added.

The UAE is home to around two million expatriate Indians, many of them blue collar workers.