Mumbai: Media veteran Uday Shankar has officially launched Upendrra Rai’s highly anticipated national Hindi news channel, Bharat Express amidst much fanfare at a dazzling ceremony organised at Hotel Andaz by Hyatt in New Delhi on 1 February 2023. The channel launch was attended by senior political leaders, Bollywood celebrities, sports icons and business luminaries namely  minister for I&B and youth affairs & sports Anurag Thakur, minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, MoS home affairs Nityanand Rai, MoS fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Sanjeev Balyan, former chief election commissioner of India Sunil Arora and Dr Kumar Vishwas. Bollywood singer B Praak also dazzled the audience with his impromptu performance.

Speaking at the launch Shankar said, “I wish Upendrra all the best at the launch of his media venture and congratulate the entire team of Bharat Express on a successful launch. Having known Upendrra for so many years, I am assured that Bharat Express will demonstrate paramount journalistic ethics when seeking and delivering news”

Extending his gratitude, CMD and editor-in-chief Upendrra Rai commented, “Uday Shankar has continued to inspire me through years and I am privileged to have him officially launch Bharat Express today. The channel will continue to reflect our core ethos of “Satya, Sahas and Samarpan” in the pursuit of bold and direct journalism. Given the quickly changing market dynamics, Bharat Express is well-equipped to deliver relevant news content to the evolving discerning news viewer”

Bharat Express will have a pan-India presence and is available across all major DTH and Cable Networks, namely, Tata Play – 535, Dish TV – 671, D2H – 753 and Airtel DTH.

Bharat Express CEO Varun Kohli said, “The launch has created a lot of hype and anticipation among viewers and advertisers alike. We are aiming to be a leader in the news space with an improved viewer engagement across our TV and digital platforms.