Barriers to innovation remain, but the most innovative companies have realised that \"innovation\" is not just about developing new products and services but, more fundamentally, about discovering new ways to create value. A Business Today-Monitor Group study profiles the most innovative Indian firms.

Exposure to overseas credit derivatives takes a toll on Indian banks.

The cotton farmers in India have some cause to celebrate. India has overtaken the US as the second-largest producer of cotton, and is also now the third-largest exporter of cotton.

Writing off farm loans worth Rs 60,000 crore, increasing Income Tax exemptions, slashing excise duties?Finance Minister Chidambaram’s Budget 2008 is aimed at winning votes in an early poll. Full coverage: Budget 2008

The best managed companies are also very successful companies, but the opposite is not always true. A Business Today and Ernst & Young study identifies what leading practices India's best companies adopt to outperform industry and competitors.

Writing off farm loans worth Rs 60,000 crore, increasing Income Tax exemptions, slashing excise duties?Finance Minister Chidambaram’s Budget 2008 is aimed at winning votes in an early poll. Watch complete Budget speechHighlights of Union Budget 2008Full coverage: Budget 2008Surfers' comments on Budget 2008Read full text of FM's speechClick to read sectoral analysisRead experts views on Budget 2008Budget at a glanceWhat’s cheaper, what’s dearer?

Has the FM done enough to address the potential impact of a US recession on India, exporters reined in by an appreciating rupee and investors caught out by volatile markets?

The economy is slowing down, foreign investors have turned wary, and there is an election to be won next year. So, will Finance Minister P. Chidambaram script Budget 2008 for votes or growth? Shalini S. Dagar tells us what we can expect this year.  Full coverage: Budget 2008-09

The housing finance market is slowing down, but not if you asked HDFC, which is clocking growth rates of 25-30 per cent and even expanding its market share. The inside story of how it has kept running while others around it are stumbling.

The 14th Business Today-KPMG survey of India’s Best Banks reveals, there’s one bank that continued to roll better than all others: HDFC Bank. Once again, for the fifth year in a row, the Aditya Puri-led bank beat 76 others to emerge as the #1 player in the industry.

State-owned banks now mean business and this is amply reflected in their dramatically improved rankings in this year’s survey of best Indian banks.

As in the recent years, the BT-KPMG survey methodology has been modified to address some of the questions that came from the banking community.

A 59 per cent rise in other income helped India Inc. to deliver a 32 per cent growth in net profit for the quarter ended December 2007, to Rs 70,232.2 crore (we used data for a total of 2,006 companies).

Two decades after testing Indian waters, the Hindujas are once again in investment mode in India. They’re planning to pump at least $50 billion into a number of sectors in the next five to seven years. That's not too little, but are they too late? Brian Carvalho tells us the inside story.

He wants to upend the governance system so that power returns to where it belongs: the people.

Prasoon Joshi is emerging as the Indian star in the international ad fraternity.

By drawing on ITC’s strengths in businesses as diverse as cigarettes to hotels to agri-business, Chairman Y.C. Deveshwar has built an FMCG machine that’s become the market leader in several segments. Now, it’s eyeing the No. 1 slot.

Taking advantage of an upbeat economy the central government has launched or revamped major schemes aimed at rural India. But have they really worked for the aam aadmi? Shalini S. Dagar finds out.

Check out Business Today's annual listing of companies you need to keep your eye on.

Six months of survey and analysis, 94 final participants, and hundreds of days of reporting is what it took to bring you stories of India's best employers. Best companies in pictures