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Country facts
Area (sq km): total: 3,287,590 sq km land: 2,973,190 sq km water: 314,400 sq km
Roadways (km): total: 3,383,344 km paved: 1,603,705 km unpaved: 1,779,639 km (2002) Languages (%): Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9% note: English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 41% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2001 census) Literacy (%): definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 61% male: 73.4% female: 47.8% (2001 census) Currency (code): Indian rupee (INR) GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,600 (2007 est.) GDP - real growth rate (%): 9% (2007 est.) Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software Internet users: 80 million (2007) Source: CIA - The World Factbook |
India: an Overview
India has the greatest English Language book buying potential in the world. In the 50 years since independence, India has nurtured English alongside its own language. India now has a literate middle class that is nearly equal to the U.S population, with a firmly established inclination to read; although only about 59.5 % of the Indian population is literate. According to the World Bank, India is the fourth largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). Also on the Gross Domestic Product accounting for 2003–2004 the economy is certain to grow upwards of 8% over 2003–2004. The per capita income has also increased at the same rate as the GDP over the last five years. For the average Indian, struggle for amenities is a daily regime, nearly 65% (Source: BW Marketing White Book 2004 –2005) of the Indian households don’t have a bank account. Most urban households have television, (64 %), than radio (44 %) or telephone (23 %), what seems surprising is the availability of Bicycles which is (46%) The rural areas don’t fare better; the availability of a TV (19%) and a Bicycle (42 %) are the highest. And only a total 2% of the combined population has a car. The key players for domestic magazines are Bennett Coleman&Co. Ltd and Living Media. The current trend is that casual and regular readers are increasing for Publications and Dailies where a significant growth is noticeable, which is not so much the case for magazines. As far as the market for international newspapers and magazines in India is concerned the same is confined to a niche audience residing primarily in the major and mini metros across India. Foreign magazines in India are available at all the leading newsstands, bookstores at 5 star hotels and major domestic airports. As India progresses, the demand for international magazines is expected to increase. The key players for distribution of foreign magazines in India are Paramount Book Agency, India Book Distributors, India Book House Ltd. and Media Star. Since the Indian Government has opened up FDI in Print Media international publishers are looking at entering into a JV with the Indian publishers. BBC has recently entered into a joint venture with The Times of India Group for publishing their titles in India.
Author: Tony Jashanmal, Jashanmal & Sons
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