Prajjal Saha
Media

Former FM Yashwant Sinha to host Budget show on ZEE Business

Sinha will interview corporate honchos such as Sunil Kant Munjal, Nimesh Kampani, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Ashvin Dani, Ajay Piramal and Anil Aggarwal

ZEE Business has come up with an unique way to woo its viewers during the Budget session. The channel has brought in former finance minister Yashawant Sinha to host 'Captains of India', the special show on Union Budget.

Sinha, who has presented the Union Budget five times during his tenure, will now sit on the other side of the table and interview some of the biggest industrialists of the country. Corporate honchos such as Sunil Kant Munjal of the Hero group, investment banker Nimesh Kampani, Airtel's Sunil Bharti Mittal, and noted industrialists – Ashvin Dani, Ajay Piramal and Anil Aggarwal will reveal their expectations from the Union Budget to the ex-minister.

Explaining the strategy behind bringing in the former FM as a host, Laxmi N Goel, director, ZEE News, says, “Who can be a better person to reveal the intricacies of the Union Budget than the man, who himself has presented the Union budget for five years?”

Starting on February 21, the show 'Captains of India' will be aired in a five-part series shown over a five-day period. The show will stress on the financial implication of the Union Budget on various classes of the society.

It's not that ZEE Business is banking only on Yashwant Sinha. The channel has even brought in the so-called management guru, Arindam Chowdhury for the show 'Budget Survey' targeted at the young audience in the age-group of 25-35. In this programme, while young individuals will reveal their wishlist from the budget, Chowdhury will comment on their expectations.

Sameer Ahluwalia, editor, ZEE Business, says that mass viewers are largely concerned about two aspects of the Union Budget. First, is the tax liability after the Budget, and second, the prices of different commodities after the Budget.

This is why the channel has lined up shows such as 'Tax Doctor' and 'Sasta Mehenga'.

For the show 'Tax Doctor', the channel has invited R N Lakhotia, the well-known tax lawyer who has also authored around 200 books on tax consultancy. This is an interactive show and viewers can send in their queries through SMS. Lakhotia would answer the queries and also talk about how it would affect the tax liabilities of individuals, after the Union Budget has been presented.

'Sasta Mehenga', on the other hand, is the show which evaluates the implication of Budget on the prices of different commodities. The channel has hired a consultant agency for this.

It's not that the channel is only targeting the mass viewers. For the investors, the channel has lined-up a show, 'Aap ka Bazaar'. This again is an interactive show where experts would guide investors to sell/purchase shares, while the Budget is being presented.

Ahluwalia says, “The stock market is highly volatile on the Budget day. Our experts would guide the investors, providing tips on sales and purchases.”

The channel has also roped in senior financial journalists such as Swaminthan Iyer, consulting editor, Economic Times; TCA Srinivas Raghvan, consulting editor, Business Today; Vivek Bharat, advisor to the FICCI president; Ila Patnaik, editor, The Financial Express.

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