“The sky is the limit and double-digit readership growth is the target.” This was the message Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad had for Businessline as he unveiled the paper’s new website. The launch comes as BusinessLine enters its 25th year, on January 28.

“This is the age of communication, and communication is power; this is the age of technology and technology is power. So, in addition to print, one has to be available on the digital platform, too.

“Therefore, this new website, incorporating new technology, new communication strategies and greater clarity of projection, will surely also give new exposure to our young crowd, which laps up everything that is online,” he said.

“India has an enormous demographic dividend — 65 per cent of India is 35 years and below — but this young crowd wants to enjoy something digital, something online. And, therefore, greater clarity about economic issues, challenges, opportunities and how to proceed are topics that need to be discussed elaborately,” he said.

Known for his plainspeak, Prasad, while complimenting the team, also assigned it a task: Understand socio-economic challenges and identify the opportunities that are available.

“I have myself been a very keen reader of BusinessLine . What I have noticed is the very objective approach of this newspaper — to inform readers, and also caution, suggest and, in many ways, counsel,” he said.

$1-trillion mark ahead

Touching on the Centre’s focus on digitisation and the role media can play, Prasad said: “How can we create a more robust ecosystem for this profound potential for the digital economy?”

He expressed confidence that India’s digital economy — encompassing communication, information technology and IT-enabled services, electronic manufacturing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence and digital payments — will soon touch $1 trillion.

“This is a field where India is rising rapidly. The number of transactions has increased by over one billion.

“This, including cyber security, will propel India’s digital economy, turning it into a very powerful one having the potential to generate employment for at least five million people in five to seven years,” he said.

Well aware of the changing news appetite of the country, Prasad said: “India, of late, has become a newsy country, with more than 800 TV channels and over 200 news channels, many of them 24x7. And there are nearly 99,000 newspapers and periodicals.”

Any newspaper that remains relevant in this “expansive horizon” will always have a vast readership and viewership,” he declared.

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