Bharat Kapadia to join Jagran-18 Publications

Kapadia joins the organisation as chief executive officer and managing editor

Bharat Kapadia, former executive director of the Bhaskar Group, is all set to join Jagran-18 Publications, the 50:50 joint venture of Network18 and Jagran Prakashan in the business print space, as chief executive officer and managing editor.

The primary mandate of the joint venture is to launch a Hindi business daily for the Indian market in 2008. This will be followed by dailies in other Indian languages, all with their focus on financial and economic news. The joint venture aims to create a new category within the Indian print space by launching a Hindi business newspaper that will hit the market nationally.

Commenting on the development, Mahendra Mohan, chairman and managing director, Jagran Prakashan, says, “The language media space has revealed strong potential for specialised business news and information, which this venture will fulfil. The business dailies that will be launched through this venture will further strengthen Jagran Prakashan’s portfolio of market leading offerings to its millions of readers. Bharat’s (Kapadia) credentials in the print media space are exemplary and we believe he will be a real strength to us as we create value from this opportunity.”

Bharat Kapadia

Kapadia, popularly known as Bharat Bhai in the industry, joined the Bhaskar Group around three years ago as executive director of Divya Bhaskar, which is the group’s Gujarati daily. Later, in May 2007, he was promoted as executive director of the entire Bhaskar Group, responsible for Dainik Bhaskar, the flagship brand of the group, Aha! Zindagi and Saurashtra Samachar.

Kapadia will continue to be an advisor with the Bhaskar Group.

Prior to the Bhaskar Group, Kapadia worked with Chitralekha and played a strategic role in turning the brand into a strong regional player. He has held significant posts in various industrial bodies: chairman of the project press committee of the Indian Newspaper Society; board member and ex-chairman, Advertising Standards Council of India; and ex-chairman, Media Research User’s Council.

Kapadia has been featured twice by Mid-Day, the afternoon tabloid, as one of the Top 50 Power Points in Media. He has won the coveted Ad Club Media Innovation Award twice and the Emvies Media Marketer of the Year Award in 2001.

Haresh Chawla, group CEO, Network18, says, “Strategically, our print foray, including the business daily venture with Jagran, marks the next level of growth for Network18 as we strengthen our position as India’s leading full play media and entertainment entity. Bharat comes with many years of rich experience in the publishing space and an intricate knowledge of building long lasting print brands and thus will be an invaluable asset in our print plans.”

Kapadia says, “With the increasing economic growth in the country and rapid transformation of consumer tastes and media habits in all regional markets, the print space has become a centre of innovation and activity. The Jagran-TV18 JV presents an exciting proposition of building a leading print brand that fulfils the ever growing need for business news and information. Moreover, I was most impressed with the growth plans and work culture of both the JV partners and I’m delighted to be a part of it.”

The Network 18-Jagran Prakashan joint venture has been positioned to benefit from the respective competencies of TV18 and Jagran Prakashan. TV18 will bring its expertise in business content to the venture, while Jagran Prakashan will bring its print competencies, including operational expertise, print and related infrastructure, and distribution, to the venture.

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