Decline of deccan chronicle

Abstract

After nearly 75 successful years of operations, Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad-based English newspaper, witnessed a downfall that no one had ever comprehended. The holding company, Deccan Chronicle Holding Limited, was in debt of over Rs. 35 billion and its net worth had practically eroded. The company was delisted under Companies Act, 1956 by Andhra High Court on the request of Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI).1 Its Chairperson, Venkatram Reddy, was arrested in New Delhi in 2015 on the charges of assault on an agent investigating Reddy’s financial fraud charges.2 To make the situation even direr, the Vice-Chairman, P.K. Iyer, was arrested later the same year in connection to the multi-hundred crore bank loan scam involving over sixteen banks, including prominent national banks such as Canara Bank, IDBI Bank and Indian Overseas Bank.3 This study traces the journey that led to the unprecedented collapse of one of the top newspapers of the country.