Business Bizarre traces success stories of unusual Indian businesses

On Sunday, July 6, BBC World brought back a new series of its popular programme Business Bizarre, profiling some unusual businesses in India. The 13-part series, sponsored by GM Chevrolet Optra, can be seen every Sunday at 1100 IST with an additional appointment to view at 2200 IST.

In the first of seven new episodes, INTV-produced Business Bizarre told the story of the widely popular Amar Chitra Katha comics. Other businesses to be profiled in this series are Salim Kagzi, the largest exporter of handmade paper from India, SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) which is an organisation of poor, self-employed women workers who earn a living through their own labour or small businesses and The Honeybee Network, an innovative business that taps rural ingenuity and reaches out across countries and continents to help innovators share expertise and in the process, wealth.

Amul, the big white of the Indian dairy revolution, will also be featured, as will Himalaya Drug Company, which has managed to combine centuries-old ayurveda with the rigour of modern clinical research to form the world's largest genetic database of 500 medicinal herbs.

Another episode will showcase Nalli, the market leader in silk sarees, which began as a small retail store in Chennai and has today emerged as the largest silk saree brand in the country with a turnover of over Rs.220 crore.

The series also brings viewers another chance to see the original six episodes featuring the famous Tirumala temple at Tirupati, which is the richest Hindu temple in the world, Haldiram's, a family-run sweet and snacks business that has become a household name in the country, the Dabbawallas of Mumbai with their Sigma Six rating for logistics excellence, Dastkar, a voluntary organisation that helps over 23 million artisans across India, Sulabh International, the public sanitation system employing over 15,000 people, and the phenomenal growth of Shri Mahila Gram Udyog's Lijjat Papad brand from a meagre initial investment of Rs. 80 to a Rs. 300crore enterprise run entirely by women.