Our budget coverage is more reflective of where India & Bharat are right now: Anuj Singhal

There are high expectations from the Union Budget that will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, 2024. Ahead of the upcoming Union Budget, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar are gearing up to present its special coverage, breaking down the budget in a way that is understood by the general public.

With its tagline, ‘Sapne Honge Sach’, CNBC Awaaz’s Budget coverage will analyse how the Modi 3.0 government will fulfil India’s dreams. The focus is on keeping the budget coverage and analysis jargon-less, simple, providing comprehensive information on which sectors benefited and who suffered – tapping into the 20+ years’ track record of extensive Budget coverage.

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Anuj Singhal, Managing Editor, CNBC-Awaaz and CNBC Bajar, speaks at length about the behind-the-scenes preparations for Budget 2024-25 coverage, the special programming lined up, the key issues that impact the common Indian as well as businesses. He also shares his budget wishlist for the finance minister, as well as the future roadmap for the TV news industry.

How is CNBC Awaaz gearing up for the first budget of the Modi 3.0 government – right from the run-up to the budget to the budget day coverage and the post-budget analysis?

What we at CNBC Awaaz try to do is keep the jargon out, and make it as simple as possible for our retail viewers, because CNBC Awaaz’s viewer is your typical retail investor who comes to the stock markets, who comes to business to earn some extra income. So, for him or her, it has to be explained in a straightforward language. Everyone has some dreams, and we are hoping that the budget will attempt to fulfill those dreams. And as we move along daily, we are trying to do some kind of wishlist from the common man, from an industry point of view, from a street vendor, from a common retailer.

So, every day we try to do different stories in terms of what is expected from the Union Budget. And on the day of the budget, of course, we will have a big panel, we have a budget jury, we have budget editors. And we are going to decipher what the Union Budget means for you and me, and whether it is going to be true to our tagline – ‘Sapne Honge Sach’.

A lot of the competitor channels are focusing more on the implications, on how different industry sectors are going to handle whatever propositions are made in the budget. With a tagline like ‘Sapne Honge Sach’ how are you aiming to make your budget coverage more reflective of the hopes, aspirations, and expectations of the common Indian?

I think the reason we decided to move a bit away from all the aspects that you said, which some of our competitors are doing, and have gone for this is because I truly believe that we have to address the common man on the street as a Hindi business channel in a country where we have more and more people trying to come out of the poverty line and trying to get into lower middle class and hopefully upper middle class. I think it is more reflective of where India is right now, and where Bharat is right now. When we just talk about the industry and the stock markets and all, we leave a lot of people out of the pie.

While, of course, our focus will also be on the stock markets as we are a stock market channel, I think the primary aim has to be to make sure that we are talking about how the livelihood of the common man can be improved.

According to you, what are the key areas and issues that need to be highlighted the most in this budget?

I think the most important area is to have more money in the hands of the people. I think disposable income has to be improved for people. While this government has been focusing a lot on revenue, I don’t think as much focus has gone into expenditure. For example, making good quality roads, spending more on the railways security system – I think all of these need to be addressed from the common man’s point of view. Of course, a lot of work has been done, but I think more is needed.

Given the kind of tax buoyancy that we have in this country, I think it is time that the government gives back to the taxpayer by spending some part of that money on public welfare schemes, on something which helps the common man. I know a lot of it is being done for the bottom of the pyramid people, but I think something also needs to be done for the lower middle class and upper middle class, who always feel that they are the ones who are always paying the taxes but not getting anything in return.

What do you feel about India’s march towards Atmanirbharta?

I think we are almost getting there. The best example of that is defense – for a country that used to import everything in defense, now we are talking about exports We have seen a lot of sectors open up to PLI (production-linked incentive). For example, almost every iPhone that sells in India today is either made or assembled in India. These are some good things that are happening.

However, there are also some areas where I think Atmanirbharta is perhaps not going to happen. China, for example, is far more competitive than us in some areas. So, in some of these areas, perhaps we are better off importing; otherwise, I think we as a country are getting there in terms of  Atmanirbharta.

For the common man what matters most is the tax outgo in the budget announcements, and also what becomes cheaper, what becomes more expensive, and how it is going to impact their household budgets. How does CNBC go about analyzing this more engagingly, to simplify it further, and to even aid in households planning their budget for the coming year?

I have started a series called ‘Budget Aur Main’, where I talk about 2-3 snippets. I have talked about why the government needs to have no tax up until at least Rs 12 lakh, maybe even make it to Rs 20 lakh, because of the way inflation has gone up and the way the government’s revenues have gone up. We have a special program on taxation, where we have special guests, we have one of India’s topmost tax experts, Sharad Kohli, who does a weekly show with us, with our Deputy Executive Editor Laxman Roy, where he talks about what all can be done to help common people in terms of text liabilities. He also talks about how we can devise strategies to manage our taxes better. So, we have given a lot of focus to taxes in every budget. And we do a weekly show as well on this, where we are doing specifically tax planning.

CNBC Awaaz has been covering the Union Budget for over 2 decades now. How has the channel’s approach to analyzing the critical areas of the budget evolved? Also, could you elaborate on the use of technology (AI, augmented reality, etc.), besides selecting the industry experts to offer more comprehensive information?

Regarding roping in industry experts, we have essentially brought in the best people who can simplify things and communicate with our viewers as we would do in our daily conversations. Simultaneously, they provide us with additional information regarding various sectors and companies that will be positively or negatively impacted.

In the last 21 years, we have handled 26 budgets, because every five years entail six budgets – one interim and one final. Therefore, we know the kind of people who have absolute mastery of the topic. There are three panels. Initially, there is the panel of Budget Editors, who accompany us both before and after the budget to discuss specific companies, and the overall market, and refine aspects of the budget. Next, we have the Budget Jury. They analyze whether the budget is good or bad, the funding allocation it receives, what could have been improved, and what should have been avoided. This panel includes mutual fund managers and industry experts.

Finally, there is a smaller panel, the Technical Panchayat, for our trader audience, and since a lot of stocks move based on what happens in the budget, those Technical Panchayat people would be giving the stock ideas to trade at that moment when the announcements are made.

As far as how the approach to analyzing critical areas of the budget has evolved over the years, I firmly believe in keeping things simple and not fixing something that’s not broken. This approach has worked for the last 20 years, and we plan to maintain it for continued success.

Could you describe what goes on behind the scenes in your ‘Budget War Room’?

Among me, Niraj, Ashish, Harshita, Lakshman, Yatin, Vipin, and others, we have many senior people who convene. Our core desk, deputy managing editor, chief guest coordinator, desk head, and others meet weekly to brainstorm on necessary adjustments to our programming. One big advantage of CNBC Awaaz is that the core team of the channel has not changed for the last 20 years. So, all of them bring with them certain ideas and it’s a very democratic channel. We appreciate everyone’s ideas. And we try to implement all of them, because everyone has been there for the last 20 years or so, bringing a lot of experience to the table. You are calling it a ‘war room’, we call it the ‘Newsroom’. But we do discuss a lot of these ideas. And we keep innovating, if needed.

Coming to your strategy on doing sectoral analysis as well as sector-wise and industry-wise implications of the budget, could you take us through a little bit of the strategy involved in how you go about doing this?

Nowadays, analysis of what’s happening sector-wise and industry-wise is available on the go. I think there are a lot of research agencies that tell you, with every announcement, which sector gets impacted and by how much. There are rating agencies that keep coming out with various research reports on what is needed for a particular sector. And we have access to almost all of these reports, which help us a lot. Hence, this kind of work is mostly outsourced to all these people. Of course, we have our research team as well, who help us. But in this, because, we have so many brokerage houses and rating agencies who are doing this work, we are giving credit to them and we rely a lot on their expertise.

While you keep the Budget analysis simple for the common man, how do you analyze the budget for the industry leaders, the investors, the stakeholders of the industry, the CEOs, and the CFOs?

Well, frankly I think for all the industry leaders and all, a lot of them come on the channel, and I think that itself is helpful to a lot of other CEOs who are listening in, and as I said, we rely a lot on the research that we get from outside. But our main focus is to get the best of the panel. Apart from people who come on the channel, we also make an effort to call a lot of CEOs and seek their views, because some of them don’t want to come on air – regarding what they make of the budget. We then put those views on air, which then goes out to a larger audience, and I’m sure that a lot of other CEOs and industry leaders take advantage of that. Of course, a lot of industry leaders and CEOs are also watching the budget on our sister channel in English, because, that’s where a lot of these CEOs go to. But we try our best to give them the best of the budget analyses.

Have CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bazaar tied up with any sponsor partners for budget coverage, and how do you plan to leverage these associations?

Yes, there is considerable interest from advertisers to collaborate with us on budget-related programming as this is Modi 3.0 government’s first full budget after the interim budget. Our campaign highlights CNBC Awaaz’s inherent strength, credibility, and expertise and features industry voices and market veterans. Our innovative approach will highlight how CNBC Awaaz simplifies the budget’s impact on consumers and their finances. There is a lot of interest from advertisers. 

Apart from television, how are you exploring other mediums, like digital, to amplify your budget coverage reach?

We are fortunate to have a robust presence across various social media platforms. CNBC Awaaz is the most followed business channel on Instagram, combining both English and Hindi. I have over 5 lakh Instagram followers, which is more than any managing editor of a business channel. Our YouTube and Facebook pages consistently rank as No. 1, and our LinkedIn is doing well. We have a Whatsapp channel, which is starting to do remarkably well. So, we are present across the gamut of social media. In terms of business news, it won’t be long before I say that CNBC Awaaz is by far the dominant player (English & Hindi put together) on social media. While, of course, we are big on TV, I think on social media, we are bigger. So obviously, we will go big on TV. But on social media, whether it’s YouTube or Instagram or Twitter, whether it’s a digital platform, we are going to be there.

What kind of programming do you have lined up for social media and digital platforms regarding the budget coverage?

We have some programs that are curated specifically for digital every day at 11:30 am, two of our senior editors talk to people, take their questions, and try to answer them. And of course, TV has its time limits. But there are longer shows that we can do and that go on YouTube. I do a series called ‘Get Rich’, in which I try to talk to a lot of successful investors. There is a lot of offering which is the same on TV and digital, but there are a few things that we do exclusively for digital.

As a senior media professional yourself, what is your budget wishlist for the Finance Minister?

First of all, I hope that the taxes come down. I think we pay a lot. Addressing high GST rates such as 20-28% and lowering excise duties on petrol and diesel are also crucial. I think people never got the advantage of lower crude prices. When we were penalized for higher crude prices, it’s only fair that we get the advantage of lower crude prices as well. The government needs to work a lot on education. For example, in developed countries, people who pay a lot of taxes, get something in return in terms of good state schooling, good state hospitals, etc. I want to see an India where taxpayers can believe that since they have paid so much in taxes, they will get some good facilities in public hospitals and public schools. That, for me, would be the biggest wish.

What is the media and entertainment industry’s budget wishlist for this year?

I think this industry has seen a lot and this industry is now bouncing back after Covid. Thus, the government has done its bit in terms of the various advertisements that both the Centre and State governments have given to news channels. This is also an industry that has been free from a lot of stringent regulations. I would want that to continue, because, we need free and unbiased media in this country. I mean something that is going well so far, just not change it, that itself would be a wishlist.

What does the future roadmap for the television news media look like in India? Which direction is it headed, and what are the kinds of consolidations that you see happening? What is the kind of digital synergies that will be brought into this media?

I firmly believe that the media has to innovate to survive. Because I think advertising rates and advertising revenue have not kept pace with the kind of cost escalation that we have seen in media, especially the personal cost. Channels need to innovate. I think some channels have innovated. YouTube, for example, has opened a good avenue for popular channels. Subscription is another model, that I think news channels have to look at, we at CNBC Awaaz have started some subscription-driven models. We have started some ticketing-based shows. That is something that news channels and media will have to do if they have to survive.