Lokmat
Lokmat is a Marathi newspaper published by Lokmat Private Limited. The newspaper was founded by Jawaharlal Darda as a weekly Marathi newspaper in 1952 before making it a daily in 1971. Today Lokmat is the most read Marathi newspaper with a readership of 18.06 million. The same survey puts Lokmat in the sixth place in readership across languages, and second in regional language newspapers. Vijay Darda, the CEO and Rajendra Darda, the Editor-in-Chief are associated with the Indian National Congress Party.
Audience Share
2.93%
Ownership Type
Private
Geographic Coverage
National
Content Type
Paid
Media Companies / Groups
Lokmat Media
Ownership Structure
Lokmat newspaper, along with the English and Hindi editions of the newspaper is owned by Lokmat Media Private Limited. Shares of Lokmat Media Private Limited is divided among: Mr. Vijay Darda (3.92% share), Jawaharlal Darda Family Trust (70.16% share), RAS Trust (holding 10.99% share), ASRA Trust (7.46%) and AROKL Trust (7.46%). All the above-mentioned trusts are run by the Dadra family. Jawaharlal Darda, Rajendra Darda and Vijay Darda are the main persons behind those Trusts.
The Darda Family controls 100% of Lokmat Marathi Newspaper through the above-mentioned trusts.
Voting Rights
Missing Data
Individual Owner
General Information
Founding Year
1971
Affiliated Interests Founder
was a journalist from the pre-Independence era in India. He started Lokmat as a weekly Marathi newspaper in 1952 that eventually became a daily in 1971. He was also a minister in the Maharashtra state government between 1978 and 1993 holding important portfolios including Industry, Health, Public Works, Energy, Food and Civil Supplies.
Affiliated Interests Ceo
the son of Jawaharlal Darda is the Chairman of Lokmat Media Private Limited, the company that publishes Lokmat newspaper. He was the Chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulation (India), an organization that audits procedures to certify circulation figures of publications. He was also the President of the Indian Newspaper Society. He is a politician with the Indian National Congress, currently the main Opposition party in the Indian Parliament. Formerly, he was a member of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Indian Parliament) since 1998 having been elected for three consecutive terms till 2016. In 2012, Vijay Darda was named in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet for an alleged role in the coal scam. However, after two years of probe, Vijay Darda was acquitted of all charges, as the agency could not find any evidence of criminal conspiracy or cheating in the coal block allocation cases.
Vijay Darda is also the Founder President of Jawaharlal Darda Educational Society that runs the Jawaharlal Darda Institute of Engineering and Technology in Yavatmal in the District of Maharashtra.
Affiliated Interests Editor-In-Chief
is the younger son of Jawaharlal Darda. Besides being the Editor of Lokmat Marathi he is the Editor-in-Chief of other Lokmat newspapers. Being an active politician with the Indian National Congress, he was a Minister in the Maharashtra state cabinet between 1999 and 2014, when he lost the election for the State Legislative Assembly. He held portfolios that included Industries, Minister of State for Energy, Finance, Planning, Home Tourism among others. He was the Minister of School Education in his last stint. After he lost his last elections to the Maharashtra Assembly, he took over as the Editor-in-chief of the Group in November, 2014. He graduated in Arts from Nagpur University. He has also done a two-year advance course in Graphic Arts from London College of Printing.
Affiliated Interests other important people
is the Managing Director of Lokmat. He has been a member of the Board of Lokmat Media Private Limited since May 2002 where he has been in charge of the editorial, finance and technical functions apart from business development for the company. Devendra Darda is also a director in many other companies that are into Mining, Power, Construction, Infrastructure, Investment and Properties, and Entertainment. He is a commerce graduate from the Sydenham College, Mumbai and MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management, Cleveland, USA
Contact
Lokmat Media Private Limited, 1301/2, Lodha Supremus,
Dr. E. Moses Rd, Worli Circle, Mumbai - 400 018, India
Tel.: +91 22 2482 0000 /1/2/3/4/5
Email: corporate@lokmat.com
Website: www.lokmat.com
Financial Information
Revenue (in Mill. $)
Missing Data
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
Missing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)
Missing Data
Market Share
Missing Data
Further Information
Meta Data
All the data available is for the Group newspapers, including English and Hindi Editions on their website, and information online. However, there is no specific information available for Lokmat. Even the Editor-in-chief position is for all the three papers, and the Group as a whole. The company management was written to, through email on 31st January 2019 and by courier on 1st February 2019, seeking information on the company, and verification of data. There has been no response from the company yet.
