Business Standard
Indian center-right / pro-business
Background
Business Standard was founded on March 27, 1975, and first published from Kolkata under the ownership of the ABP Group, a major Bengali-language media conglomerate. By the mid-1990s, the paper was generating heavy losses—reportedly above ₹50 crore—and ABP decided to sell. In 1997, Kotak Mahindra Finance (now Kotak Mahindra Bank), led by Uday Kotak, acquired the paper for a nominal sum of roughly ₹1 crore, committing around ₹20 crore to turn it around. Under Kotak ownership the publication stabilized financially and expanded to 12 regional printing centers, reaching readers in over 1,000 Indian cities. Influential editor T. N. Ninan shaped the paper's analytical, data-driven financial journalism from 1993 to 2009 before becoming chairman and editorial director. Subsequent editors have included Sanjaya Baru and Ashok K. Bhattacharya; Vikas Dhoot is the current editor. Third-party media monitors such as Media Bias/Fact Check rate it right-center with mostly factual reporting, while noting limited transparency in shareholder disclosure and a tendency toward favorable framing of Indian government economic policies. The outlet does not focus on U.S. or global politics as such; its international coverage centers on how foreign policy and trade developments affect Indian business.
Sources
- Business Standard – Wikipedia
- Business Standard (India) – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
- ABP Group – Wikipedia
- How BS swam against the media tide to create a unique identity for itself – Business Standard
- Business Standard – Grokipedia
- Business Standard – Biasly
- Explained: What Trump's 10% global import tariff reset means for India – Business Standard
Profile compiled 2026-07-07; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.