The printed word may be fading away in this age of e-books elsewhere in the world but not in India where readers are ensuring that the publishing industry — one of the world's largest — continues to grow despite the slump in the international market and the digital threat. The publishing industry in India is valued at nearly $2 billion and is registering a 15 percent growth each year, according to projections by the Frankfurt Book Fair. Bucking the global trend, the printed book in India is still sought after by Indian readers at a time the World Bank estimates that 70 of every 100 Indians with disposable incomes have access to mobile telephones. Internet-enabled mobile surfers stand at 87 million (December 2012), according to an Internet and Mobile Association of India report. More than half the users have access to e-books on the Internet. But the charm of the written word, the physical entity of the ink and paper book, endures for various reasons. The millennia-old tradition of written texts, conservative Indian mindset, the vigorous event-based promotion of the reading culture, the sudden spurt in national and state-level literature festivals and competitive pricing are keeping the print industry on the move, drawing new segments of readers every day, say experts. “Publishing on the whole is in a healthy shape in India, The good news is that there is a proliferation of publishers,” said Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor, a former UN undersecretary general. Tharoor, the author of several books including “The Great Indian Novel”, said India today was seeing a number of world class publishers, including Indians, who had met international standards of production and design quality. “Indians read widely...Conventional books should be celebrated,” the minister said accounting for the publishing boom at the World Book Fair in the capital Feb 4-10. A survey conducted by the National Book Trust, which hosts the World Book Fair, says one-fourth of the youth population, nearly 83 million (in 2010) can be identified as “readers of books” and the number is growing. According to National Book Trust chairperson A. Sethumadhavan: “The diversity of India and the fact that the two-third of the Indian population was young (35 years of age) were driving the publishing in the country and allowing books to retain relevance.” Sudhir Malhotra, president of the Federation of Indian Publishers, estimates that the country supports at least 60,000 big and small publishers who print approximately 100,000 titles in English and 28 regional languages every year, making the country among the world's top six publishers, and the top three in the English language. “Book publishing has undergone a metamorphosis from the handful of publishers in the 1950s,” Malhotra said. India, in his view, presents a unique scenario in the publishing growth story. Its syncretic culture allows both the old and the new to co-exist with digital publishing and complements conventional publishing unlike many other western nations where e-books have edged out the print. Publishing, still looking for “official industry status”, is hoping to streamline itself with the help of business forums like the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). At a recent forum, “CEOSpeak: A Forum for Publishing”, a joint initiative between the National Book Trust and FCCI at the World Book Fair in Indian capital New Delhi, a cross-section of chief executives and publishers expressed concern about “rampant piracy, undercutting in prices and discounts in books and the implementation of the National Book Promotion Policy.” One problem area, says Himanshu Gupta, joint managing director of the S. Chand Publishing Group, is the cost of paper that might increase by 72 percent in the future, forcing a hike in the cost of books. “Duplicate books sold at the red lights is another cause for alarm together with corporate infringement in which coaching centres and colleges use and distribute content from our books among students at Rs.3,000-Rs.5,000 (approx $55-90). Publishers must join hands to stop infringement,” Gupta told IANS. Outlining the growth areas in publishing, Gupta said mergers and acquisitions will power the path of Indian publishing to get global visibility. With the profusion of literary festivals in the country – the Jaipur Literature Festival being the biggest – that see thousands of keen readers troop into various venues to hear authors and columnists, the book culture in India will only increase. — IANS
