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Outlet profile

Business Today

Indian center, mainstream commercial business press

Owned byLiving Media India Limited, the publishing arm of the India Today Group, controlled by Aroon Purie and the Purie family
FundingPrimarily advertising revenue (print and digital) and magazine subscriptions; the India Today Group has also received institutional investment, including from the Aditya Birla Group
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

Business Today was founded in 1992 by Living Media India Limited, the publishing arm of the India Today Group, to capitalize on India's economic liberalization under then-Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. It quickly overtook rivals such as Business India to become the highest-circulating business magazine in the country, claiming a readership of roughly 1.7 million. The broader India Today Group was established in 1975 by Vidya Vilas Purie; his son Aroon Purie later became chairman and editor-in-chief and built it into one of India's largest multimedia conglomerates, encompassing dozens of magazines, television channels, radio stations, and digital properties. Living Media's revenues come primarily from advertising, with print advertising declining sharply from the late 2010s onward as digital platforms grew. The group has faced criticism from Indian media watchdogs, including allegations that its coverage of major conglomerates such as Reliance Industries is softened by commercial relationships; critics point to muted editorial scrutiny of Reliance during politically charged episodes like the 2020–21 farm-law protests. In 2022, India Today Group filed a defamation and copyright suit against the media-criticism outlet Newslaundry after it published analysis critical of the group's journalism; Newslaundry defended the action on fair-comment grounds under Indian copyright law. Aroon Purie publicly acknowledged in 2025 that 'the space of dissent is shrinking' in Indian media, a remark critics noted sits in tension with the group's own legal pressure on critics.

Sources

  1. Business Today (India) - Wikipedia
  2. India Today Group — About Business Today
  3. Who Owns Your Media: The highs and lows of the India Today Group — Newslaundry
  4. Aroon Purie — Wikipedia
  5. India Today Group files Rs 2 crore suit against Newslaundry — Scroll.in
  6. Living Media India — Grokipedia
  7. 'Space of dissent shrinking': Aroon Purie at FICCI FRAMES 2025 — BusinessToday
  8. Business Today Magazine Advertising Rates — The Media Ant

Profile compiled 2026-07-02; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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