News Broadcasting
CNBC-TV18 celebrates the business stalwarts of India
MUMBAI: “We Will Lead the Way, the Way We Have Led, Triumphs Behind, Triumphs Ahead” was the slogan that resonated at the 10th chapter of the flagship India Business Leaders Awards (IBLA) – Asia’s most renowned awards for Excellence in Leadership hosted by CNBC-TV18, India’s leading business television. The IBLA witnessed some of the biggest and eminent members of the business fraternity and recognize and honour the visionaries who have strived hard to change the face of India Inc and place it on the global pedestal. The 10th IBLA was presided by Hon’ble Finance Minister of India, Shri. Arun Jaitley, and was adjudged by stellar jury of reputed members at the Regal Room at Trident hotel, Mumbai on January 09th, 2015.
In an aim to celebrate the spirit of leadership and excellence in the business arena of India, the India Business Leader Awards credits individuals and organizations that have symbolized corporate excellence and have taken Indian Business to a new stratum of fame. The ‘India Business Leader Awards’, CNBC-TV18’s flagship awards for leadership in business and the economy, recognized the leaders who ingeniously piloted their organizations in these times of economic turmoil.
The singular idea for IBLA this year was to honor those poised to champion it. IBLA emphasized on the selection of winners across categories that have showcased men and women who have shown the ability, shared the vision, and have the capacity to rise above the current volatility and see the long term goal of putting India on the world map
In what would be an interactive and a first of its kind session with Hon’ble Finance Minister Shri. Arun Jaitley aimed to get a glimpse on what could be expected in terms of economic policies and Budget 2015 in the months to come from the the Finance himself. In response to the type of budget expected this year, Shri. Arun Jaitley said, “A budget is a very important occasion. It should indicate the direction of policies and major announcements should be made every week or fortnight regarding budget decisions in the same direction”. On fixing the fiscal gap, the Finance Minister continued to say that “a higher fiscal deficit is unfavourable to the economy as it hits the credibility of the country to curtail its spending. Also, rating agencies tend to alter their ratings based on this important parameter which, in turn, makes borrowing. Major disinvestment decisions will be taken before the 31st of March 2015”.
The IBLA jury consisted of distinguished names such as Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy- Founder – Infosys Limited, Mr. Deepak Parekh – Chairman – HDFC ltd, Mr. D Shivakumar – Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Cyril Shroff- Managing Partner of Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co., Mr. Harish Manwani- Non Executive Chairman- Hindustan UniLever.
Speaking about the awards, Anil Uniyal, CEO of CNBC-TV18 and CNBC AWAAZ said, “For years, we have recognized leadership and applauded India’s outstanding leaders with the CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards. And now as we celebrate two very special milestones – 15 years of CNBC-TV18 and 10 years of CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards – the occasion is twice as momentous. With the Hon’ble Finance Minister gracing this edition of the awards, and all key business leaders joining us on the evening of the 9th it was truly a celebration of our success”
The Young Turk of the Year was Hector Beverages – maker of Paperboat. Co-Founders Neeraj Kakkar and Neeraj Biyani accepted the award on behalf of the organisation. Speaking on the recognition, Neeraj Kakkar said, “We would like to thank IBLA for recognizing our dream and hard work. In our pursuit to walk down the memory lane and bring back childhood memories alive, we have bottled the traditional Indian drink in the form of Paperboat”. Neeraj Biyani who spoke on the growth prospects of Hector Beverages, said, “We believe that we can co-exist with the bigger players while creating our own space in the packaged beverage segment. We would like build on our product portfolio in India which by itself is a huge market while we would want to go global in a few years from now”.
Google India won the trophy for the Brand of the Year for their famous commercial on reunion. CNBC-TV18 raised an interesting point on Google India’s, decision for an ad that speaks about the past, despite being a company that redefines future. The Vice President and Managing Director of Google India, Rajan Anandan, who summarized the rationale behind the ad said, “The Internet is all about transforming lives and our lives are about the past as much as it is about the future and Google India believes that the internet truly changes these lives. We are touched to see how India and the world reacted to this ad and this award resonates that we are headed in the right direction. I would like to thank our creative partners, Ogilvy India and IBLA for this honour”.
The most deserved Lifetime Achievement winner, S. Ramadorai, erstwhile CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services and Chairman, National Council on skill development, congratulated CNBC-TV18 on completing 15 years in the industry and on the 10th year of Indian Business Leader Awards (IBLA). He thanked the Hon’ble Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley and the respectable jury members on conferring him with the honour and credited the success to the employees of TCS.
The 10th India Business Leaders Awards once again stood as a truly defining moment for the leaders and the companies that won the award. Every year, the IBLA sets new standards for excellence to become a trend-setter in recognizing and awarding the best in the industry, and this year, it left no stone unturned to celebrate the spirit of excellence in business leadership in India.
The winners of the India Business Leadership Awards 2015 are listed below:
News Broadcasting
Network18 Q4 revenue grows 9.7 per cent, EBITDA at Rs 30 crore
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
