Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's speech at the CNBC-TV18 anniversary

Mr. Raghav Behl, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be here to join you in celebrating the fifth anniversary of CNBC-TV18. I am also pleased to learn that an overseas channel and a Hindi business channel are being newly launched. I must compliment Raghav Behl and his colleagues who have contributed to the success of this media venture. The past decade or so has witnessed a boom in Indian media. This has given many young women and men the opportunity to exhibit their talent and creativity. Never before has the Indian media scene been as exciting a place to work in as it is now. I compliment our media leaders for their commitment and professionalism.

There has been an exponential growth both in the number of consumers of news and of its suppliers. In 1990 we had only one television channel and a limited business media. Today, there are scores of TV channels and several business channels vying with one another for the viewer's attention and the advertiser's budget!

The new turn in economic policy that we took in 1991 and the increase in demand for information have clearly played an important role in this process. The quantitative growth of media has also helped in its qualitative development. Competition has, quite understandably, contributed to greater creativity.

There is, of course, some understandable concern that has been expressed about some of the values and images we are transmitting through television. I think media managers must pay attention to these concerns. There must be commitment to both quality and values in your programming. The media has an important developmental role to play, especially the business media, and I am happy that channels like yours play this role with competence.

I am happy to note that CNBC TV-18 has launched a global channel for overseas viewers. The Indian diaspora is a vast pool of talent and energy and I am heartened to see so many young Indians living abroad now wanting to come back and participate in our economic growth processes. We must enable overseas Indians and people of Indian origin to more actively engage with our Motherland. That is why I had recently announced that our Government will grant dual citizenship to all such overseas Indians who live in countries that permit this possibility. I do hope a day will come when any person of Indian origin anywhere in the world can return to this Motherland and contribute to its glory.

I hope your new channel will not be aimed at the overseas Indian community alone, but also at the international community. The world must know what is happening in India. Recently when Doordarshan launched its Direct-to-Home service, I urged DD to recapture its role as a public service broadcaster. I am conscious of the fact that private channels have to be more concerned about market compulsions since advertising revenue is your only source of income. I am, therefore, encouraged by the fact that you see market opportunities in launching a Hindi business channel and in going global. Our non-English speaking citizens are increasingly participating in our market economy and deserve to have the same access to information that English speaking Indians have. I hope there will be more Indian language business channels and publications so that more of our people understand the dynamics of the contemporary world.

I do believe that Indian media must now go global. We need our own CNNs and BBCs! A global Indian channel with a global perspective and reaching out to a global audience. I also think Indian print media must now think global. I find several international news organizations seeking permission to enter the Indian market. We have constituted a Group of Ministers to evolve our policy response in this regard. But, what I do not find as yet is an Indian media company wanting to go global. In fact, very few of our media organizations are as yet willing to invest in foreign correspondents in important capitals of the World. We cannot continue for long with the present state of affairs wherein only one media organization has a full-time correspondent stationed in Beijing! Our media's coverage of our own region, South Asia, is inadequate. All this must change. I am glad that TV18 has taken the first steps in this direction.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our country is on a new path of growth and development. Our Government is committed to increasing the rate of investment and in creating an environment conducive to meeting this objective. India is rapidly integrating itself with the world outside. We are seeking bilateral and regional trade and economic cooperation agreements with our wider neighbourhood. We want to see our share of world trade and investment flows increase rapidly. We want more foreign investment in India and we want Indians to invest abroad. We would like to see easier regimes for the movement of skilled people and we want to encourage inbound tourism in India.

India has historically been actively engaged with the world. In the past two decades this engagement has once again revived. I would like to see a quantum jump in the coming years. As I said yesterday at the CII Partnership Summit, there is today a wide-ranging consensus in our country on the necessity for India to be actively engaged with the world economy. I have repeatedly reaffirmed our commitment to the successful functioning of the multilateral trading system and to broadening the agenda of the World Trade Organisation to liberalise the flow of goods, services and labour. We are committed to lowering our tariffs at least to ASEAN levels. This is a policy priority for us. You are also aware that we are negotiating Free Trade Agreements with Singapore and ASEAN. I have stated my commitment to the idea of creating an Asian Economic Community, an arc of prosperity across Asia, in which there are no barriers to trade and investment flows and to the movement of people.

The time has come for India to make bold and rapid strides. I urge all of you to think BIG. At the recent meetings of the Council on Trade and Industry and of the Manufacturing Competitiveness Council, I was heartened to see that many of our business leaders shared this sense of urgency. They agreed with me that we must THINK BIG and THINK BOLDLY about the future of our country. The era of incrementalism is over. We cannot afford to just do things better. We must do them differently. The challenge before us - in economic policy, in social policy, in education policy, in foreign policy - is to "think out of the box". We must think anew, afresh and ahead.

I am convinced that India has to be a more open economy and must derive the benefits of globalisation, even as we equip ourselves to deal with its challenges. This is a course which we have set and we shall stay the course. I commit our Government to an open, caring economy, an economy where the marginalized are empowered so that they become active partners in development and share the benefits of growth. We have been taking firm steps in this direction, systematically and steadily. We have begun the process of rationalizing our indirect tax structures with a movement towards a VAT system and a common goods and service tax. We have opened up international markets to our airlines so that they become global players. Policy measures are being taken to make a quantum leap in infrastructure sectors such as airports, roads, power, ports and railways. At the same time, we are increasing the emphasis on education, health and employment.

Friends,

I must pay a personal tribute to the media in the context of the tsunami tragedy because it was an early report on a television news channel that had first alerted me to the tragedy! This helped us save time in responding to the crisis. It is said that information is the chief means of prevention. We have to augment our power to caution people much before such a disaster strikes them. I have appealed to the scientists to strive hard to address this question. But whatever warning systems we put in place, there can be no substitute to an alert and energetic media. You can play a constructive role in helping people in such times of crisis. Indeed, our free and energetic media is our best early warning system. Not just in the event of natural disasters, but also in times of social and political crises. It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that a free media is a society's and a nation's most effective early warning system. It helps Governments remain alive to the needs and concerns of the people.

The business media also has an obligation to play the role of an early warning system in the market place. You have to draw the attention of both investors and government to what is happening in the markets at home and abroad, in firms large and small, and in Government. It was the media that alerted us to the stock market scam of 1992. You must be the guardians of the interests of ordinary investors so that we can create wealth for all and not just for a few. Wealth that endures and that is productively utilized.

In 1991 when we launched our new economic policies our biggest challenge, and therefore our biggest achievement, was to change mindsets. You, ladies and gentlemen of the media, can play an important role in the Nation's development process by helping alter mindsets. Your objective must be to win people over to a point of view, rather than mock those who disagree. We have to build as wide a consensus as is possible in a society like ours to carry forward the difficult tasks of economic and political reform. This devolves upon you a great responsibility that I do hope you will take upon yourself with dedication and commitment to the values of good journalism and the principles that define our Nation and our Republic.

Jai Hind.