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By:

Suhas B Naik-Satam

25 November 2025 at 2:24:38 pm

All India Radio Mumbai: The Voice of a Century

A century of memories, culture and trust that lives in the hearts of millions. Some voices do not remain mere voices; they become witnesses to history. They live on through generations of memories, create a sense of belonging in homes, and become an inseparable part of the collective memory of society. The voice of All India Radio Mumbai is one such voice. 23 July 2026 marks a historic and proud moment in the history of Indian broadcasting. On this day, All India Radio Mumbai enters its...

All India Radio Mumbai: The Voice of a Century

A century of memories, culture and trust that lives in the hearts of millions. Some voices do not remain mere voices; they become witnesses to history. They live on through generations of memories, create a sense of belonging in homes, and become an inseparable part of the collective memory of society. The voice of All India Radio Mumbai is one such voice. 23 July 2026 marks a historic and proud moment in the history of Indian broadcasting. On this day, All India Radio Mumbai enters its centenary year. This is not merely the hundred-year journey of a broadcasting centre; it is a glorious chapter in the cultural evolution of Maharashtra, the bond of trust created with people, and the dissemination of knowledge and ideas. 23 July is celebrated as Indian Broadcasting Day. On this day, organised broadcasting services began in India, marking the beginning of a new era in the country’s communication landscape. In those early years, radio was not merely a technological medium; it was a powerful tool that connected the nation, shaped thoughts and provided a platform for culture. In today’s digital age, the means of communication have undergone a remarkable transformation. Mobile phones, the internet and various digital platforms have enabled information to reach across the world within moments. Yet, the importance of radio continues to remain unique. This is because radio is not merely an experience of sound; it is a dialogue of emotions and trust. The warmth of the announcer’s voice, the identity of programmes, the melodies of music and the rich tradition of ideas have helped All India Radio Mumbai create a lasting place in the hearts of listeners. Mumbai is not only the economic centre of the country but also a vibrant cultural capital. Numerous streams of literature, music, theatre, cinema and art have flourished from this city. All India Radio Mumbai played a significant role in bringing these diverse cultural expressions to households. By taking the thoughts of Marathi writers, the voices of musicians, the imagination of playwrights and the talent of artists to listeners, the centre became an inspiring platform for many. The countless voices broadcast from the studios of All India Radio Mumbai remain alive in the memories of listeners. The melodies of भावगीत (lyrical Marathi songs), classical music concerts, powerful performances of dramatic readings, literary interviews and various cultural programmes enriched the cultural life of Maharashtra. For many artists, All India Radio became their first major platform, helping their talent gain recognition and reach a wider audience. The contribution of All India Radio has never been limited to entertainment. Through the threefold approach of information, education and entertainment, the medium has consistently contributed to social awareness and public enlightenment. It has played an important role in promoting education, creating social awareness and developing a scientific outlook among people. An important chapter in this tradition is the establishment of the Science Cell in 1976. The cell was created with the objective of bringing developments in science and technology to ordinary listeners in a simple, understandable and engaging manner. At that time, science was often considered a field restricted mainly to experts. Encouraging a scientific outlook among society, bringing new discoveries and concepts in science to common citizens, and nurturing curiosity among students were important needs of the era. The Science Cell of All India Radio Mumbai fulfilled this responsibility effectively. Through science news, expert interviews, discussions, educational programmes for students and initiatives explaining the science behind everyday life, the Science Cell brought the light of knowledge to the common people. By presenting information on subjects such as space research, the environment, health, agriculture, energy and technology in an accessible language, the cell created a rich tradition of science communication. The journey of science communication that began in 1976 remains an important milestone in the centenary journey of All India Radio Mumbai. Along with music, literature and culture, All India Radio also gave science an important place in social life. The effort to promote scientific thinking and encourage curiosity about knowledge has become even more significant in today’s information-driven era. In its century-long journey, All India Radio Mumbai has not merely broadcast programmes; it has woven an invisible thread connecting memories, emotions, knowledge and culture with society. That is why the voice of All India Radio Mumbai continues to be a symbol of trust, warmth and cultural identity for millions of listeners. As All India Radio Mumbai stands at the threshold of its centenary year, may this remarkable journey of voices continue to illuminate the path of knowledge, culture and communication for many more decades to come. (The writer is the Chief Executive at the National Centre for Science Communicators, Mumbai. Views personal.)

Growth With Caveats

While India enters the year with enviable economic momentum, a long list of reforms still awaits completion.

January has a way of sharpening economic judgment. Companies tally their third-quarter results and sketch full-year ambitions while governments begin aligning policy signals and spending priorities for the next fiscal year. But before gazing ahead, India must reckon with the year just gone - a period that offered reassurance about the economy’s resilience even as it exposed stubborn structural gaps.


The global backdrop was hardly comforting. Growth remained uneven, with the IMF estimating world output at 3.2 percent in 2024 and 3.3 percent in 2025. Manufacturing continued to labour under supply-chain disruptions and trade frictions, while services proved more resilient. Geopolitics distorted commerce and capital flows, rewarding caution over exuberance. Against this unsettled canvas, India’s performance was respectable rather than spectacular. Growth slowed to 6.2 percent in the second quarter of FY25. Retail inflation averaged 4.9 percent, but food prices rose by a sharper 8.4 percent as erratic monsoons took their toll.


Ambitious Aims

The Economic Survey 2024–25 responded with ambition rather than defensiveness. Its lodestar was Viksit Bharat 2047: an India without extreme poverty, with universal access to education and healthcare, a fully skilled workforce, female labour-force participation of 70 percent, and a credible claim to being the world’s food basket. To reach a five-trillion-dollar economy by FY28 and Rs. 6.3 trillion by FY30, the Survey argued that India would need sustained nominal growth of 10 percent and real growth of about 8 percent. The chosen lever was deregulation. “Ease of Doing Business 2.0” was presented as a corrective to what the Survey identified as the economy’s chief constraint: regulatory overreach rather than fiscal or monetary tightness.


Four vulnerabilities framed the diagnosis. Manufacturing accounts for only 2.8 percent of global output, compared with China’s 28.8 percent. Credit to GDP, at 93 percent, suggests room for financial deepening. India depends on China for more than 90 percent of its rare-earth magnet imports, a strategic weakness disguised for too long by benign trade. The demographic window is both a gift and a threat as by 2026, some 923.9 million Indians will be of working age, demanding jobs at a pace institutions have yet to master.


Farm output was strong, with rural and urban consumption gaps narrowing, labour-force participation rising as unemployment fell to 3.2 percent. Banks enjoyed their cleanest balance-sheets in a decade, though stress was creeping into microfinance and unsecured retail lending.


The Union Budget sought to convert diagnosis into direction. Fiscal discipline was preserved: expenditure was set at Rs. 50.65 lakh crore, receipts at Rs. 34.96 lakh crore, and the deficit guided down to 4.4 percent of GDP under the FRBM path. Agriculture received a boost through the Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana for 100 low-productivity districts and a mission for self-reliance in pulses. MSMEs were courted with higher classification thresholds and expanded credit guarantees, unlocking an estimated Rs. 1.5 lakh crore of incremental lending. Public capital expenditure, at Rs. 10.18 lakh crore, remained the economy’s flywheel, complemented by a Rs. 10 lakh crore asset-monetisation pipeline and Rs. 1.5 lakh crore in long-term loans to states.


Trade ambitions were revived through an Export Promotion Mission and the BharatTradeNet platform, with an eye on lifting merchandise exports towards 300 billion dollars by 2030. The budget also gestured at GST rationalisation, expanded PM-KISAN and the Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for 80 crore beneficiaries, and offered forward guidance on capex.


Deregulation has moved from rhetoric to statute. The Jan Vishwas Act of 2023 decriminalised 183 business-related provisions, replacing punishment with remediation; a second instalment promises to extend this logic to more than 100 additional laws. PAN 2.0 has made tax identification instant and paperless, nudging fintech adoption and formalisation among small firms. States, prodded by the Business Reform Action Plan, have begun linking regulatory reform to industrial expansion.


Familiar Obstacles

That said, labour-law rationalisation and land reform remain hostage to state-level resistance. Environmental clearances are quicker on paper than in practice. Banks, despite the Reserve Bank of India’s easing, still chafe under layered compliance. A high-level committee on regulatory reform is expected to report by early 2026, while a proposed Investment Friendliness Index aims to shame laggard states into action. Risk-based compliance could yet invigorate MSMEs and startups, but tariff simplification (now compressed into eight slabs) must still resolve duty inversions that penalise domestic value addition.


Nowhere is strategic vulnerability clearer than in rare-earth permanent magnets. Imports exceeded 90 percent of demand, a dependence that became painfully visible in April 2025 when China imposed export controls. Electric vehicles, renewable-energy firms and defence manufacturers faced cost increases of 15 to 20 percent and sharply longer lead times. India imported around 53,000 tonnes of magnets in FY25; demand is expected to double by 2030. The government has responded with a Rs. 16,300 crore National Critical Mineral Mission and a Rs. 7,280–7,350 crore incentive scheme to build an integrated domestic magnet ecosystem with 6,000 tonnes per annum of capacity. Overseas acquisitions and mineral auctions add ballast. While dependence on China may fall to 60–70 percent by 2030, near self-sufficiency is unlikely before 2035.


Finance, by contrast, has been a rare source of cheer. Gross non-performing assets fell to a 12-year low of 2.2 percent, or about Rs. 1.5 lakh crore on a credit base of Rs. 181 lakh crore. Public-sector banks improved to 2.5 percent; private lenders held at 1.8 percent. Credit growth moderated to 10.2 percent by mid-2025 as firms tapped capital markets, while retail and MSME lending held steady. The IPO market was exuberant: 373 listings raised Rs. 1.95 lakh crore, making India the world’s busiest bourse for new issues. Domestic investors displaced foreigners, cushioning outflows without dulling market confidence.


Monetary policy helped as the RBI cut rates by 125 basis points in 2025, shifting decisively from inflation control to growth support. Liquidity swung into surplus; inflation drifted towards the 3–4 percent comfort zone.


As the year unfolds, the question is less whether India has momentum than whether it can sustain reform through execution. Self-reliance demands institutional persistence and political patience. Deregulation offers the clearest path to faster growth. The destination is enticing. The journey remains unfinished.


(The author is a Chartered Accountant with a leading company in Mumbai. Views personal.)


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