Business Today to launch second issue of India Inc: The Next Big Leap

As part the 10th anniversary celebrations of Business Today, the India Today group publication is planning to launch the second issue of India Inc: The Next Big Leap, titled ‘The New Vision'. This issue will be launched at the Business Today corporate event ‘Managing Tomorrow Series' on March 25, 2002.

The second in the series, The New Vision, has a set of 50 exclusive essays by top 50 CEOs of the country. The issue is about their personal insights and predictions about the changes in Indian business and their visions about their companies. Among those who have contributed to the magazine are KV Kamath (ICICI), YC Deveshwar (ITC), Ratan Tata, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Anand Mahindra, Rahul Bajaj, Gautam Singhania, Karsanbhai Patel, Narayana NR Murthy, Sanjeev Goenka, Adi Godrej, MUL's Jagdish Khattar, Xerxex Desai, Coca-Cola's Alex von Bher and GE's Scot Bayman.

To put things into perspective, on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, Business Today had kicked off two special events - a magazine called India Inc: The Next Big Leap and a corporate event, Managing Tomorrow Series. While India Inc: The Next Big Leap is a series four special issues spotlighting the transformation underway in the country, the Managing Tomorrow Series gets prominent people from the corporate world to discuss and debate relevant business issues.

Talking about the focus of the four issues of the magazine, Barun Das, general manager, marketing, Business Today, says, "Each of the four issues will focus on one aspect of change. Our emphasis will be on the latest and the brightest in business. Our focus will be the best companies and people. In keeping with Business Today's editorial tradition, the special issues will be thoroughly researched and backed by top-notch writing, photography and illustration." Managing editor Samar Harlankar will oversee the final product.

Each issue of the magazine is priced at Rs 100. The first issue of the India Inc series was titled The New Entrepreneur, and was launched on November 30, 2001. It was about the success stories of India's 40 most promising entrepreneurs. The New Entrepreneur issue was launched by Anil Ambani, managing director, Reliance Industries, at the Business Today Managing Tomorrow event held in Mumbai last year. Some of the participants of the event were Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC, Shitin Desai, vice-chairman, DSP Merrill Lynch, SV Prasad, CEO, Zurich Asset Management Company, Pradeep Lokhande of Rural Relations, Euro RSCG's Ishan Raina, nutritionist and entrepreneur Anjali Mukherjee, Nimesh Kampani, CEO, JM Morgan, M&M's Arun Nanda, Ranbaxy's Malvinder Singh, auto designer Dilip Chabbria, and designer Anand John.

Das is quite excited about the second issue. "The New Vision is a strategic issue. With contributions from top CEOs the shelf life is certainly going to be long." He feels India Inc: The Next Big Leap and the Managing Tomorrow Series would have a huge positive rub off on the mother brand Business Today. "It has helped in creating a fanfare around the issue," he adds.

Part of the fanfare is aimed at wooing advertisers. Business Today notched up Rs 30 lakh as advertising revenue with the first issue of the special series. The expectation from the second issue is slightly higher. The publication hopes to earn as much as Rs 40 lakh this time.

The New Vision will be followed up with the launch of The New Tech and The New Highways. While The New Tech would hit the stands around July-August, The New Highways will be brought out in October-November. The New Tech will focus on the technology that is changing India's business and economic landscape. The New Highways will have a traveller's perspective on the business infrastructure of tomorrow. © 2002 agencyfaqs!