The Beginning

Lokmat was conceptualized and started by Loknayak Bapuji Aney as a weapon to fight the British imperialism during the freedom movement of India. The name 'Lokmat' was given by the great freedom fighter and literary person Bal Gangadhar Tilak ("Freedom is my birth right and I shall have it") when the publication was first started as a handwritten newspaper from Yavatmal, then a little known town in Maharashtra.

Inspired by the great luminaries of the freedom movement, Late Shri Jawaharlal Darda took over this fortnightly published newspaper in 1953. The former Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru formally inaugurated Lokmat as a daily publication in 1958 at Yavatmal and on December 15th 1971, the first full fledge edition was started from Nagpur, the winter capital of one of India's largest and most affluent states - Maharashtra. From its humble beginning in 1971, the publication eventually emerged as the No.1 circulated and read daily of Maharashtra reaching every corner of the state and catering to the news and entertainment needs of millions of its readers everyday.

The Journey

Under the dynamic leadership of Shri Jawaharlal Darda and his sons Vijay and Rajendra, Lokmat achieved a meteoric rise in the late 80s and the 90s by focusing on the needs of the readers. Highest standards in journalism, quality in every field of the business, cutting edge technology and a national network of some of the most talented journalist catapulted Lokmat to the forefront of Maharashtra's journalism

Over the years several new editions were added including newspapers in Hindi and English languages. Lokmat today is the 4th largest read newspaper in the country (National Readership Survey 2006) having a readership of 10.85 million people every day