eBOOKS...GOOD DIVERSIFICATION

With major publishing giants making available books and content online, industry stalwarts say they do not see E-books as a threat but as an opportunity to diversify the traditional publishing industry. "E-books are not a threat but an opportunity for publishers to tap the growing market which is more tech-savvy and has grown up reading digital books," Rohit Kumar, Chairman, Read Elsevier India said today. He was speaking at the second edition of "CEO Speak - a Forum for Publishing", hosted by NBT in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. National Book Trust, which is the latest to join the electronic bandwagon, sees digital and traditional channels of publishing complementing each other. "E-book should be considered a challenge and not a threat to traditional publishing. The two delivery channels have to co-exist and complement each other in an emerging India which is technology-driven. No industry can remain static," A Sethumadhavan, NBT Chairman said. As per the findings of an Industry Pulse survey conducted by FICCI, digital publishing is not yet a resounding success in India with only five per cent share of E-book apps, paving the way for print, which hogs the main stake. The CEO Speak roundtable aimed to address challenges faced by the publishing industry in India and assess the emerging trends in book publishing. The event witnessed big names from the publishing industry exchanging ideas about digital publishing and the need to accord industry status to the publishing industry for providing working capital for more content creation. Author and Member of Planning Commission, Narendra Jadhav in his keynote address said the Indian publishing industry has grown at a spectacular rate and has a tremendous potential to grow even further. "The growth of the Indian publishing industry is consistent with the growth of India as a knowledge country. Youth literacy has improved with an incremental addition in higher education enrolment," he said. Underlining the need for the publishing industry to actively collaborate with institutions of higher education, he said, "Research and innovation in the field of publishing is important to create new readership." 
Issues of book piracy, lack of rural libraries, the need to look at Indian language market more closely and implementation of National Book Promotion Policy were also raised in the three-hour long session. "Proper projection of the potential of publishing sector in India, seeking industry status and anti-piracy awareness ifs the need of the hour," Vivek Lall, President and CEO, Reliance Industries Limited. Projecting digital method as quicker and more profitable method of publishing, Winnie Hung of HP Indigo and Inkjet Press Solutions said, "This is the right time for the new print strategy to come in form of E-books. "Digital printing can now help identify books which may be not be able to generate immediate revenue otherwise but through digital methods they will give immediate returns," she said. Earlier Beata Stasinska, Vice President, Foksal Publishing Group, Poland made a presentation on Polish book market, which is growing but not at a spectacular rate. "In 2012, the Polish book market fell by 1.5 per cent", she said. She pointed out that with the availability of Internet in many Polish houses, the digital publishing industry has grown but acquires a share of only 1.5 per cent of the market. Poland is the guest country at this year's New Delhi World Book Fair organised by NBT in association with the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). According to a FICCI report, Indian publishing industry ranks third in English language publishing after the US and UK with an estimated sector value of Rs 12,000 to 15,000 crores. Over 100,000 titles are published every year. The participants included Hachette India, Pratham Books, Taylor and Francis, DC Books, Amazon.com, Cambridge University Press, Publishers Association, Rupa Publications, Orient Blackswan, Harper Collins, Ratna Sagar, Sage India, German Book Office, Frankfurt Book Fair, among others.