Best cities for business (BT Cover, September 7) gave a 360-degree perspective on the business climate prevailing in the leading cities of India. The ranking of various cities according to their business quotient made sense and was spot on.

It’s not just in aviation or automobiles that businessmen are seeking out low-cost solutions. From housing to gyms, from entertainment to banking, a clutch of canny entrepreneurs is seeing big opportunity at the lower rungs of the proverbial pyramid. T.V. Mahalingam reports.

While it is everybody’s case that big, bold infrastructure creation is an imperative for the India of our dreams, the action on the ground continues to stop short of the mammoth requirements of a nation aspiring to grow in double digits. A new look at old problems, and some fresh solutions.

The buzzword at the country’s second-largest bank, which became famous for its scorching growth rates, is ‘measured growth’, a euphemism for losing steam. Here’s what prompted ICICI Bank’s strategic shift. Anand Adhikari reports.

In a comatose market, smart investors are scurrying for regular returns. Invest in only those companies that are in a position to sustain their dividend payouts over the coming years.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), theoretically at least, are supposed to work in tandem to govern, improve and regulate telecom and allied services in the country.

Though jobs are still the prime mover of people, for an increasing number of middle class Indians, the quality of life is becoming as important as the quality of work. And as life and work become more intertwined, businesses and people flock to cities that cater most appealingly to both.

Several leading NBFCs, all boasting impeccable pedigrees—CitiFinancial, SBI Cards, BoB Cards, Cholamandalam DBS Finance and GE Money—have extended unsecured loans to high-risk, non-salaried borrowers. They are now facing massive delinquencies. Can the problem spiral out of control like the subprime crisis in the US? A report by Anand Adhikari.

For most finance professionals, the days of dizzying salary hikes and fat bonuses are over. In fact, many have been retrenched. The downturn in markets—India and global—has forced a number of hitherto gung-ho financial services firms to wield the job axe. Rachna Monga reports.

Developers are refusing to admit it, but they are in trouble. Smaller developers are also getting affected by the downturn, having been forced to defer their IPOs due to adverse market sentiments.

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.

The asset quality of retail loans in india has weakened in recent months, a CRISIL report says. The contributing factors: the rising proportion of unsecured loans, increasing exposure to high-risk customers, hardening interest rates, and a dip in credit standards during 2004-07.

Losses in the West haven’t deterred global banks. French bank along with Citi, Credit Suisse, Lehman Brothers, and Goldman Sachs are in investing mode in India.

The world's largest bank is gasping for breath. Will it now cut back operations globally to put its house back in order, or will it expand in India and China to offset its losses elsewhere?

There’s a tentative sense of relief on Dalal Street. The April-June quarter results of several companies are in, and the good news is that there are no nasty surprises.

The stock market’s massive fall has been swift, sharp and painful. Experts believe there’s going to be more pain before it settles down. Yet, predicting its bottom is like catching a falling knife.

Some facts about other management schools in India.

After years of working in the sizeable shadow of Bajaj Auto, Rahul Bajaj’s younger son Sanjiv strides out on his own into the high-growth world of financial services.

The RBI directive makes it clear that the operations of Sahara’s residuary non-banking finance company are not in good shape. The central bank has directed SIFC to reconstitute its board within 30 days of the directive in such a way that half its members should be independent directors.

Mercer India’s Padma Ravichander; Keshav Sanghi, former Head of Equities, Deutsche Bank in India; Pratap Bose, COO, Mudra; Rajat Gupta, Vice Chairman, International Chamber of Commerce; Amul’s Parthibhai Bhatol; and Aegis Media Group’s Ashish Bhasin.