How India lost the Financial Times to a clash of titans
After a quarter-century-long fight, during which it was checkmated at every turn, the British business newspaper gave up on its Indian dream.
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Editor's note: It was 1991. And one of the oldest media companies in India, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, was gaining ground like never before. It had been just a few years since a young Samir Jain—the man who is said to have redefined Indian news media as we knew it—had taken over as the vice chairman of the company. An interesting proposal came his way and his company crossed paths with another big name in news media, the Financial Times. The British business newspaper was eyeing an India entry and the proposal was for a syndication or content-sharing arrangement with BCCL, the publisher of The Times of India, The Economic Times and more. Soon enough, the contract was signed and the companies began working together. A little way down the road, the proposal got slightly bigger; the Financial Times wanted a deeper business tie-up. Both parties exchanged correspondence over the next few months, but somewhere, something did not align. Eventually, the Financial Times refused to partner with BCCL. It was 1992 and that was supposed to be the end of that …
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