The Darda Family
The Jawaharlal Darda family are the owners of the Lokmat newspaper. The family consists of Jawaharlal Darda’s sons, Vijay Darda, the Chairman of the Group and Rajendra Darda, the Editor-in-Chief of Lokmat. Vijay Darda is a three-time Member of the Parliament (Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament) and belongs to the Indian National Congress party. His brother, Rajendra Darda also belongs to the Indian National Congress party. He was a minister in the Maharashtra State Government and held portfolios like Finance and Planning, Energy, Tourism, Home, Industry and Education. Devendra Darda, is the son of Vijay Darda, and is the Managing Director of the Company. Rishi Darda, the Editorial and Joint Managing Director of the Company, and Karan Darda, the Executive Director of the Company, are the sons of Rajendra Darda.
The Darda family have been reported in a few cases including the Coal Scam during the UPA government. There are also reports in the section of the Press where a social worker, Pankaj Thakur, has accused Vijay Darda of grabbing a INR 2 Billion worth of land.
Business
Mining
Asera Mining Private Limited
Power
Asera Banka Power Private Limited
Asera Power Private Limited
Construction
Great Asera Infrastructure Private Limited
Asera Buildcon Private Limited
Ancient Concrete Products Private Limited
Navketan Industrial Construction Private Limited
Mariso Construction Private Limited
Realty
VJD Realty Private Limited
Infrastructure
Providence Infrastructure Private Limited
Investment
Darda Investment and Properties Private Limited
Agriculture
Soham Agriculture Private Limited
Prithavi Agriculture Private Limited
Deepti Agriculture Private Limited
Ancient Agriculture Private Limited
Printing
Darda Printocrats Private Limited
Property
Ignite Properties Private Limited
Exports
Pataliputra Exports Private Limited
Family & Friends
Affiliated Interests Family Members Friends
the son of Jawaharlal Darda, is the Chairman of the Lokmat Media Private Limited and a shareholder in many of the Group’s companies including Mining, Investment and Real Estate
the younger son of Jawaharlal Darda, the Editor-in-chief of the newspapers, is also a shareholder in the other interests of the Group including Investment;
the son of Vijay Darda, the Managing Director of Lokmat Media Private Limited holds varying percentage of shares in other businesses of the Group including Mining, Power, Infrastructure, etc.
the older son of Rajendra Darda, the Editorial and Joint Managing Director has varying stakeholding in the companies of the Group including Mining, Infrastructure, among others.
the younger son of Rajendra Darda, the Executive Director of the Company has varying percentage of stake in other businesses of the company including agriculture, printing and publication businesses.
Further Information
Headlines
Meta Data
Although the ownership structure of Lokmat Media Private Limited is available in the Registry of companies, the major shareholders are the Family Trusts, and hence no specific names are clearly spelt as owners. There is no information available about the composition of the Jawaharlal Darda Family Trust which could have helped ascertain the real stakeholder in the company. 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.
