Business Standard

2026-04-25T07:09:58Z

12.172.74.2:

{{short description|Indian English-language daily newspaper}}
{{For|the Bangladeshi newspaper|The Business Standard}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name = ''Business Standard''
| logo = Business Standard.svg
| logo_size =
| image = [[File:Business Standard cover 03-28-10.jpg|225px|border]]
| caption =
| type = Daily [[newspaper]]
| format = [[Broadsheet]]
| owners = Business Standard Private Limited ([[Kotak Mahindra Bank]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.virsanghvi.com/People-Detail.aspx?Key=12|title=Profile of Uday Kotak|publisher=Virsanghvi.com|access-date=17 August 2020|date=5 September 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thedailypao.com/who-owns-your-daily-newspaper/ |title=Who Owns Your Daily Newspaper? |work=The Daily Pao |date=2 March 2016 |access-date=14 February 2020 |archive-date=9 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109050247/https://www.thedailypao.com/who-owns-your-daily-newspaper/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}March 2, 2016 The Daily Pao</ref>
| founder = [[ABP Group]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Sruthijith KK|title=Corrected: Business Standard Owner Uday Kotak Held Meetings With Potential Buyers|url=https://gigaom.com/2009/08/04/419-exclusive-business-standard-owner-uday-kotak-held-meetings-with-potenti/|website=gigaom.com|access-date=27 July 2018|date=4 August 2009|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407233956/https://gigaom.com/2009/08/04/419-exclusive-business-standard-owner-uday-kotak-held-meetings-with-potenti/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| publisher = Business Standard Ltd
| editor = Shailesh Dobhal
| managing_editor =
| news_editor =
| campus_editor =
| campus_chief =
| opinion_editor =
| photo_editor =
| staff_writers = 400+(August, 2020)
| founded = {{Start date and age|1975|3|26}}
| language = English<br/>[[Hindi]]
| ceased_publication =
| headquarters = Nehru House<br/> 4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg<br/>[[New Delhi]] 110002
| circulation = 189,000
| sister_newspapers =
| ISSN =
| oclc = 496280002
| free = Yes
| website = {{URL|www.business-standard.com}}<br />{{URL|http://hindi.business-standard.com/}}
}}

'''''Business Standard''''' is an Indian [[English language|English-language]] daily edition [[newspaper]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Contact Us|url=https://www.business-standard.com/contact-us|url-status=live|access-date=4 July 2021|website=Business Standard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209194246/http://www.business-standard.com:80/contact-us |archive-date=9 February 2013 }}</ref> also available in [[Hindi]]. Founded in 1975, the newspaper covers the [[Economy of India|Indian economy]], infrastructure, international business and trade, information on financial quotations, corporate governance, and a range of other financial news, opinions and insights.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

The main English-language edition comes from 12 regional centres: [[Mumbai]], [[New Delhi]], [[Kolkata]], [[Bangalore|Bengaluru]], [[Coimbatore]], [[Chennai]], [[Ahmedabad]], [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]], [[Chandigarh]], [[Pune]], [[Lucknow]], [[Bhubaneswar]], and [[Kochi (India)|Kochi]], and reaches readers in over 1,000 towns and cities across India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.business-standard.com/about-us|title=About Us - Brand - Business Standard|publisher=Business Standard}}</ref>

==History==
The newspaper's initial owner had been the [[Kolkata]]-based [[ABP Group]]. Circulation was rising, but losses were rising, possibly to above {{INRConvert|50|c|year=1986}}, and ABP could not support it. ABP hoped that the government would allow the ''[[Financial Times]]'' to take an equity stake in Business Standard Limited and bring in funds.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In 1997, ''Business Times'' was purchased by Kotak Mahindra Finance, in a deal led by now [[Kotak Mahindra Bank]] Managing Director and CEO [[Uday Kotak]]. Kotak said in an interview in 2005 that BS was losing {{INRConvert|1.5|c|year=1997}} a month and ABP feared being bankrupted by the losses. Aveek and Arup Sarkar spun BS off into a separate company and approached Kotak as a potential buyer, fearing they needed to close down the paper. "I did a quick calculation. I believed that if I put Rs 20 crore into the paper, we could turn it around. The cost of acquisition was virtually zero. The Sarkars were so desperate that they were ready to give the paper up for nothing. I can’t remember how much we paid but it was only a crore or so. Kotak Mahindra was flush with funds – some from the Goldman Sachs JV – so it seemed like a risk worth taking," he said.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.virsanghvi.com/People-Detail.aspx?Key=12|title=Profile of Uday Kotak|publisher=Virsanghvi.com|access-date=17 August 2020|date=5 September 2005}}</ref>

The paper remained India's second-largest business daily in terms of circulation for years, until in 2017, when its ranking sank. In January 2019, it was judged by the [[Indian Readership Survey]] (IRS) to be the fourth largest financial newspaper (with an average annual readership of 107,000 copies) and third largest selling financial newspaper (with a total readership of 505,000).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/media/the-economic-times-is-number-4-among-english-newspapers-irs-2017/articleshow/62612582.cms |title=The Economic Times is number 4 among English newspapers: IRS 2017 |work=[[The Economic Times]]}}</ref>

In January 2020, the paper had recovered some ground. The IRS 2019Q4 survey found the newspaper gained 45,000 readers over the final quarter of 2019 to hit an average issue readership of 189,000 copies. It is the third-highest selling financial newspaper in India, behind ''[[The Economic Times]]'' and ''[[Mint (newspaper)|Mint]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/media/et-continues-to-grow-daily-readership-crosses-1-1-m/articleshow/75705627.cms|title=The Economic Times continues to grow, daily readership crosses 1.1 million|work=[[The Economic Times]]|date=13 May 2020|access-date=17 August 2020}}</ref>

==Editor==
Financial journalist T. N. Ninan was the editor from 1993 to 2009. In January 2010, Ninan became [[chairman]] and editorial director of Business Standard Ltd and was succeeded as editor of ''Business Standard'' by Dr [[Sanjaya Baru]], who was formerly media advisor to Prime Minister [[Manmohan Singh]]. Long-term Business Standard editorial staff Ashok K Bhattacharya took charge of the paper after Baru quit to join a UK-based think tank in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2011/09/ak-bhattacharya-replaces-sanjaya-baru-as-editor-of-business-standard/|title=AK Bhattacharya replaces Sanjaya Baru as Editor of BS}}</ref> The current editor is Shailesh Dobhal.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

==Employees==
While exact figures are not known, more than 100 business journalists are currently employed with the publication. After the onset of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in India]], the newspaper fired almost 100 employees, almost half of whom were editorial staff.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/07/02/business-standard-discontinues-sunday-edition-initiates-layoffs-across-bureaus
|title=Business Standard discontinues weekend edition, initiates layoffs across bureaus|publisher=Newslaundry.com|date=2 July 2020|access-date=17 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/07/31/media-layoffs-et-gujarati-shuts-down-business-standard-initiates-second-round-of-retrenchments|title=Media layoffs: ET Gujarati shuts down, Business Standard initiates second round of retrenchments|publisher=Newslaundry.com|date=31 July 2020|access-date=17 August 2020}}</ref>

The offices with the largest editorial teams are in [[Delhi]], which mostly covers government policy news and [[Mumbai]], mostly dedicated to corporate, financial and share market news. Other offices with reporting bureaus are present in [[Kolkata]], [[Bangalore]], and [[Ahmedabad]]. The newspaper had few reporters in other major cities such as [[Chennai]] and [[Bhubaneswar]], and their numbers have been continuously reduced since 2016. Reporters based out of [[Lucknow]], [[Chandigarh]] and [[Hyderabad]] were let go.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

* {{official website|https://www.business-standard.com/}}

{{Newspapers in India}}
{{ABP Group}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Business Standard}}
[[Category:English-language newspapers published in India]]
[[Category:Business newspapers published in India]]
[[Category:Daily newspapers published in India]]
[[Category:Newspapers published in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Mahindra Group]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1975]]
[[Category:ABP Group]]
[[Category:1975 establishments in West Bengal]]

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Business Standard