A down-to-earth gambit

Indian business has largely been a cosy club and good governance more often than not has been lip service. In the West, an active takeover market meant institutional investors could exercise their heft for their benefit (incidentally, that helps other minority shareholders as well). In India, you can count the number of successful hostile takeovers on your fingertips. But dismal statistics have hardly dissuaded self-made billionaire Subhash Chandra. Unlike Rupert Murdoch of late, Chandra must be enjoying reading about himself in his own newspaper.

The media baron is hogging the headlines for having bought into infrastructure company IVRCL. What has further tickled the interest of analysts and peers alike is his intent to acquire management control by buying out promoter Sudhir Reddy. Unless you have been tracking Chandra closely over the years, you might not be aware of his infrastructure plans. To know how and where IVRCL fits into his scheme of things, read Subhash Chandra's Next Big Bet.

For the business media — and that includes Outlook Business — frequently profiling big corporate houses is bread and butter work. Many a time that is where reader interest also lies. To be fair, the familiarity and connect does help meet deadlines. However, there are far more interesting stories of enterprise to chronicle if one goes deeper into India. Our reporters travelled across India to bring you some interesting stories on companies for which tier 2 and tier 3 is the mainstay. You can read about small-town stars here.

Among other interesting stories is associate editor Kripa Mahalingam’s take on how the mobile phone is increasingly being used as an effective marketing weapon. Is the mobile phone then, the Holy Grail that advertisers have been looking for to precision target their audience? The answer to that and more is in Sending The Right Signals.