Next Gen unveils city business directory

Competition in the Rs 200 crore business directory segment has intensified with Next Gen Publishing Ltd (NGPL) launching the Forbes Yellow Pages (FYP), a multi-format business directory, especially customised to serve the needs of the business community in and around Ahmedabad.

NGPL is set up by the Forbes Group, owned by Shapoorji Pallonji and HDFC. After Ahmedabad, NGPL plans to enter at least 10 new cities with its business directories catering for the small and medium enterprises (SME) business segment.

"We aim to emerge as a leader in the segment in the first year of our operation in the city. We are delighted to launch our first FYP for Ahmedabad, a city which has always been in the forefront for innovative ways of business growth. We are confident that our users will find the specially customised offering that we are launching in Ahmedabad beneficial and advertisers will support it whole-heatedly. We aim to become a leading content generation company," said Hoshang Billimoria, chief executive officer, NGPL.

While the Mumbai-based Infomedia India, formally known as Tata Infomedia, already a established player in this segment with the Infomedia Yellow Pages, with presence in 12 cities, is also planning to expand its presence in another 12 cities in the next two years.

Apart from these two major players, there are several other regional players also.

At the time when Infomedia India is planning to expand in the special interest publishing division by foraying in other sectors like pharmaceuticals and textiles among others, NGPL has recently launched its first niche magazine, Smart Photography, and will soon be launching three other magazines for its special interest publication division.

"Smart Photography is a classy, well designed and informative monthly that covers the entire spectrum of the photography industry and related products which has already met with excellent response. The company plans to launch many more magazines during the current financial year," said Mandeep Singh, vice-president, NGPL.

The special interest publishing (SIP) division of Infomedia India contributes a major chunk of the company's revenue after business directories.

The SIP division brings out focussed magazines on the various subjects, which include Better Photography, Search - The Industrial Sourcebook, Overdrive, AV Max, Auto Monitor, Chemical World, Modern Machine Tools, Electrical and Electronics, IC Chip, Modern Medicare and Photo Imaging amongst others.

NGPL, with an equity base of Rs 10 crore, of which 80 per cent stake is held by The Forbes Group and the remaining by HDFC.

The board of directors of NGPL includes Nawshir Khurody, former chairman Tata Infomedia and former managing director, Voltas and chairman, NGPL, K C Mehra, deputy chairman and managing director, Forbes Gokak, Keki Mistry, managing director, HDFC and R N Jha, former director, LIC.