Modernisation of the Chennai airport finally gets off the ground.

N. Madhavan travels to Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu to check out how BT cotton has changed the lives of farmers there.

We visit two emerging IT-ITES centres—Lucknow and Coimbatore—and discover that despite the initial buoyancy, they still have a lot of ground to cover. Report Shalini S. Dagar and Nitya Varadarajan.

The Business Today-DuPont Sustainability Forum brainstorms some of the key issues and challenges involved in efforts to steer farming away from unsustainable practices and its consequences.

Just as Chinese silk invaded the Indian market in the 1990s, China's power equipment manufacturers, leveraging their lower costs and shorter delivery periods, have begun hitting Indian majors where it hurts most—and are walking away with orders worth thousands of crores of rupees. K.R. Balasubramanyam says that they are making hay while the sun shines.

Oddanchatram market is the largest vegetable market in Tamil Nadu in terms of direct procurement from farmers. Major retail chains have set up centres here to feed their outlets across south India. However, these large retail chains have not been able to make a dent on the dominance of traditional buyers. N. Madhavan finds out.

The documents and debate on rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) abound. Yet none—companies, governments, farmers/landowners— know the right course. Here are the reasons:

Truck market's distant No.2, Ashok Leyland is aiming for a larger share not just in India but also abroad. Problem: there are newer global rivals and tougher market conditions to negotiate. R. Seshasayee, MD, says that speed is the essence and all employees have been made to realise its importance. N.Madhavan reports.

Ramesh J. Chauhan, Chairman, Bisleri International, claims to have 60 per cent of the Rs 2,000-crore market for bottled water, and his brand is valued at Rs 3,000 crore. He is now thirsting for more, writes A. Subramanian.

Drugs, diagnostics, real estate, private equity and glass may seem a motley bunch of businesses, but it doesn’t matter how diverse your portfolio is if you can emerge top dog. And it’s leadership that Ajay Piramal is aiming for, reports S. Layak.

Mobilised: By India Inc., $22.3 billion in loans so far this year, 18 per cent more than what it had raised over the same period last year. Led by Tata Motors’ $3-billion loan for the Jaguar-Land Rover acquisition, the third-largest Indian loan on record, India Inc. raised $22.3 billion against $18.9 billion in the year ago period, says global consultancy firm Dealogic.

India’s southern-most metro has been receiving lots of IT and auto industry investments.The big question: is the city capable of handling such explosive growth?

The television distribution business is no longer a tangled mess like the cable wires criss-crossing cities. Investments are flowing in, and big operators are gobbling up last mile players in a bid to consolidate.

Inflation is a bugbear that continues to give mandarins in the economic ministries sleepless nights. The latest figures show it at 11.98 per cent for the week ended July 19. Sub-normal rainfall in large parts of India can push inflation to 14 per cent.

Banks are proliferating at a rapid pace in the Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. Over the last two years, 28 new branches have been opened and five more are likely to commence operations soon. N. Madhavan checks out if this would improve the quality of life of the people in this district.

Ras Al Khaimah wants to strengthen its bonds with India. It  has big plans in India: these range from $4-billion investment in IT and hospitality in Tamil Nadu to a $2-billion aluminium smelter in Andhra Pradesh to expansion of its ceramics business with a new plant and then a $2-billion real estate venture.

Two international acquisitions and commencement of operations of its Chinese joint venture—all in a year’s time— have catapulted Carborundum Universal Ltd from just being India’s largest abrasives maker to a global player. The Murugappa Group company is aiming for a global top slot.

Chinnakannan Sivasankaran (or ‘Siva’ as he is better known) has one consistent thing going for him: he almost unfailingly makes a substantial killing when he exits the businesses that he acquires.

Technology is transforming education across India from primary schools to technical universities. However, it’s early days yet.

Out of the eight finalists who made it to the presentation round of the TiE-Canaan Entrepreneurial Challenge, three emerged ultimate winners. Check them out.