The Times of India

About The Times of India

The Times of India (TOI) is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news outlet headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded on 3 November 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, it is the oldest English-language newspaper in India and among the oldest newspapers in the world still in continuous circulation. It is owned and published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL), the publishing arm of The Times Group, which is controlled by the Sahu Jain family. The paper is widely described as India's largest-selling English daily and, by its own long-standing claim, the world's largest-selling English-language newspaper.

Origins as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce

The Times of India issued its first edition on 3 November 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, during the British Raj. In its earliest years it was published twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, under the direction of Raobahadur Narayan Dinanath Velkar. The paper initially served the British residents of western India, carrying news from Europe, America and the subcontinent that arrived by regular steamship mail. From 1850 the paper began daily editions, and in 1861 the Bombay Times was renamed The Times of India, the title it has carried ever since. The long history has given it the nickname "The Old Lady of Bori Bunder," a reference to the Mumbai neighbourhood where its offices stood.

The Colonial Era and the Road to Indian Ownership

For much of the nineteenth century the paper was British-owned and controlled. It built a strong circulation in India and Europe and at one point employed more than 800 people. Its last British editor, Ivor S. Jehu, left the editorship in 1950, shortly after India gained independence. Ownership passed first to the Dalmia industrial family and later to Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain of the Sahu Jain group of Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. The transition marked the paper's passage from a colonial-era institution into one of the anchors of independent India's commercial press. Near the beginning of the twentieth century, Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, called the paper "the leading paper in Asia," and in 1991 the BBC ranked it among the world's six best newspapers.

Ownership: Bennett, Coleman & Co. and the Sahu Jain Family

The Times of India is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., which together with its group companies is popularly known as The Times Group, India's largest media conglomerate. BCCL is controlled by the Sahu Jain family. Indu Jain served as chairperson, with Samir Jain as vice-chairperson and Vineet Jain as managing director, representing the family's stewardship across the group's print, television and digital properties. The group's scale gives TOI considerable commercial weight in the Indian advertising market, a factor that has shaped both its editorial and business strategies over the decades.

Editions and Circulation

The Times of India publishes editions from major Indian cities including Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Patna, Nagpur and others. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, its daily circulation stood at 1,872,442 copies as of April 2023, making it the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation. The newspaper itself has stated that more than 13.5 million readers wake up to one of its 13 editions each morning, with daily circulation exceeding four million copies. It is consistently ranked as the world's largest-selling English-language daily in industry reports and is considered a newspaper of record in India.

Editorial Character and Political Stance

The Times of India is generally described as a newspaper of record with a politically conservative orientation and a pro-business editorial outlook. Its editor-in-chief is Jaideep Bose, with Jug Suraiya serving as associate editor. The paper's editorials typically address national politics, economic policy, foreign affairs and civic issues from the standpoint of India's urban, English-speaking middle class. At the same time, the paper has drawn significant criticism from media observers since the 2000s for pioneering what it calls "private treaties" and what critics describe as paid news — the practice of accepting payments in exchange for positive coverage. This controversy has made TOI a central case study in debates about commercial pressures on Indian journalism.

Content and Supplements

The main paper carries national and international news, business, sports, cinema and opinion pages, but it is perhaps best known for its city-focused supplements, such as Bombay Times and Delhi Times, which cover lifestyle, entertainment and social pages in each metro edition. This reader-friendly formula — hard news wrapped around glossy city coverage — helped TOI build mass appeal among urban readers and advertisers alike. Regular sections cover education, careers, automobiles, technology, health and real estate, and the paper's Sunday and weekend offerings include magazines and special features aimed at family readership.

Digital Presence

The newspaper's website, timesofindia.indiatimes.com, ranks among the world's most-visited news sites and is one of the dominant digital news destinations in India. According to comScore data cited in the paper's history, the Indiatimes portal was at one point the world's most-visited newspaper website by page views, ahead of the websites of the New York Times, the Washington Post and USA Today. The TOI mobile app delivers breaking news alerts, live blogs, video content and personalised notifications, and the brand has extended into podcasts and social-media-native journalism aimed at younger readers.

Sister Publications and Group Ventures

As the flagship of BCCL, The Times of India sits at the centre of a large publishing empire. Its English-language sister publications include The Economic Times, the country's leading business daily. The group also publishes Navbharat Times (Hindi), Maharashtra Times (Marathi), Ei Samay (Bengali), Vijaya Karnataka (Kannada) and the former Mumbai Mirror, as well as magazines such as Femina and Filmfare. On the broadcast side, the Times Group operates the Times Now news channel network and other television properties, making the group a full-spectrum media player across print, television and digital.

Reputation and Public Trust

Surveys have repeatedly placed the paper among India's most trusted news brands. In the Brand Trust Report India study of 2019, TOI was rated as the most trusted English newspaper in the country, and a 2021 survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism rated it the most trusted news brand among English-speaking online news users in India. Its influence extends beyond journalism: it is a primary source of current-affairs material for students preparing for competitive examinations and for professionals tracking Indian policy and business developments.

Recognition and Trust Rankings

In addition to its commercial dominance, The Times of India has featured prominently in Indian media trust surveys. In the Brand Trust Report India study of 2019, it was rated the most trusted English newspaper in the country, and a 2021 survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism rated it the most trusted news brand among English-speaking online news users in India. Earlier, in 1991, the BBC ranked the paper among the world's six best newspapers, and near the beginning of the twentieth century Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, had called it "the leading paper in Asia." The paper's masthead carries the motto "Let the Truth Prevail," and its status as a newspaper of record makes it a primary reference for students preparing for competitive examinations and for professionals tracking Indian current affairs, policy and business developments.

The Paper Today

Nearly two centuries after its first edition, The Times of India remains the dominant force in Indian English-language journalism by circulation, readership and revenue. Its challenge, like that of legacy newspapers worldwide, is to sustain print profitability while investing in digital growth, data journalism and multilingual outreach. The paper's blend of mass-market appeal, commercial strength and editorial influence ensures that it continues to shape the national conversation in India, even as it remains the subject of ongoing debate about the relationship between advertising and editorial integrity in the country's press.