Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Dec 03, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Dec 03, 2002 |
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Industry & Economy
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Newspapers & Publishing No easy shift to mags for foreign book publishers
Nithya Subramanian
NEW DELHI, Dec. 2 IT'S not going to be an easy transition from books to magazines for foreign publishing houses operating in India. If any of these publishing houses plan to bring out foreign journals and magazines, they would have to adhere to the sectoral norms on foreign direct investment (FDI) stipulated by the Government. Currently the Government permits up to 74 per cent foreign investment in the publishing business and up to 100 per cent in trading companies primarily engaged in export of books. But if these companies wish to get into publication of magazines, they would have to seek fresh approvals, a top official in the publishing industry said. However, Macmillan, Penguin and several international publishing houses have already set shop in the country with majority foreign shareholding. "The Government has permitted 74 per cent in the non-news and non-current affairs magazines and 26 per cent in news and current affairs. The same sectoral caps would have to be adhered to by publishing houses," he said. In the guidelines for FDI in print media, the Government has said that clearances would be given on a case-by-case basis after thorough scrutiny. Publishers feel that the investments for publishing foreign magazines would be much higher than that required for bringing our books. "If these companies (foreign publishers) wish to get into magazines or journals, the investments would have to be upped. The levels of investment in publishing books is not as high as that for magazines or newspapers," the official said. The Government, however, is taking a very cautious approach even with respect to FDI in the publishing business. It recently rejected a proposal by the UK-based publishing house Taylor & Francis Group UK which had proposed to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India for undertaking publishing and printing of scientific and technical books and journals in the country. The company had also planned to set up a publishing base and invest around Rs 3.4 crore over a period of five years after commencement of commercial operations of its Indian subsidiary. Currently the organised publishing industry in India accounts for more than Rs 1,600 crore revenues annually which include around Rs 300 crore exports. Though no specific figure is available for the numerous small publishers spread across the country, the industry estimates that the total national turnover of the domestic publishing industry will be in excess of Rs 2,000 crore. It is also estimated that India currently has 13,000 publishers bringing out 60,000 new titles each year.
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