A few nimble players are furiously delivering financial services to a widely dispersed population and are making money - one customer at a time.

Ethiopia emerges as the new land of hope for Indian agri-business.

By helping farmers till their land, Coromandel International has created a new revenue stream.

More than legal contracts, it's companies' contact with farmers that's the name of the game.

Hand in Hand's goal is to help millions of entrepreneurs bloom.

Puneet Dalmia has injected into his group a strong appetite for growth - something it lacked for six decades.

They say they touch more consumers than any other Indian company — and it's not just with soaps, locks and cupboards.

It may not have the glamour of mobile phones or airlines but no-frills housing is beginning to get off the blocks and promises to be a big, big business.

Two years after the property bubble burst, developers are back with cleaner balance sheets and projects that range from no-frills homes to swanky towers. But customers are not biting.

Ponni Sugars is desperate to grow and has the cash to do so. But the management needs to think big and change its mindset.

Here is a take on people, place and products doing the round these days.

The STAR Network of channels says it has emerged the largest in India, for the first time. But the big breakthrough will be if Rupert Murdoch's Indian operations can lead the country's media and entertainment pack. He's getting there, fast.

He's made tentative investments in the energy and steel sectors, via joint ventures and acquisitions, but the big bang will clearly come when the chairman of the world's largest steel company freezes his plans to set up a mega-steel unit in the country. So, what's stopping him?

Despite some marquee projects in the big cities, airports still stand for poor infrastructure. And that is changing far too slowly.

Most of India's smaller cities remain on the fringes of the aviation boom. Regional airlines have been non-starters in India, unlike in Europe, the United States and even China.

You won't get the lounges with pile carpeting, deep sofas, canapes and laptop docks. You don't have the noise and to-do of Mamatadi's Duronto non-stop trains either.

Here is a take on people, places and products doing the rounds these days.

Marketing communications firms are working out innovative ways to allow upcountry consumers to develop an appetite for branded products and services.

A Tamil Brahmin and a Malayali get together to manufacture and sell Mumbai's favourite snack. The result: their Goli Vada Pav chain of 65 stores has a turnover of Rs 10 crore and daily unit sales of 50,000 pavs.

A fast expanding coffee-to-infrastructure to-financial services sprawl already ranks V.G. Siddhartha among India's 50 richest people. And, this is just the beginning.