A glimpse of the Meerut publishing industry

What Daryaganj is to the publishing industry in Delhi/NCR, Meerut is to the publishing industry in Uttar Pradesh. Though Meerut is more popular for textbook printing, pulp fiction and children books are other two segments that fuel the industry. Infact, Meerut has been a hub for publishers, writers and artists of pulp fiction since its inception. They have also produced some of the popular children books as well. All About Book Publishing recently met a group of publishers in Meerut to know more about them. Here’s a glimpse of the same. GR Bathla & Sons

ManojGR Bathla & Sons is recognised as one of the leading educational publishing groups in India. They specialise in science textbooks for Classes IX-XII of various school boards in the country as well as for engineering and medical entrance examinations, focusing mainly on Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

Founded by: Prakash Chand Bathla in 1968.

Our USP: We emphasise completely on quality publication. We prefer publishing text books with fine print, neat and clean diagram and authentic content Products offered: We publish text books of objective type and problem solving for IIT-JEE, NEET, CBSE, ICSE, UP Board and all other engineering and medical entrance examinations.

Milestone, awards and achievements: Prakash Chand Bathla, founder, received lifetime achievement award from FEPI in 2014, and we received many awards for quality publication from FEPI and FIP Challenges faced: The biggest challenge we face is piracy of our books. Other than that, publishers treat our books as their main competition. Decreasing reliability and responsibility of market representatives are other challenges.

Future plans: We are planning to develop our own printing-binding system and publish books of all kinds in more fields of competition.

Book fair participation: We participate every year in book fairs across the country. We have also participated in Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany.

Creative Graphics

Syed Azim AkhtarCreative Graphics provides complete book-designing solutions in illustration, concept and design elements.

Founded by: Sayed Azim Khan, 1996.

Our USP: The one thing that differentiates us from others is honesty—we promise and deliver exclusive designs to our clients; we do not duplicate designs. Our expertise is that we work in all Indian languages. We deliver quality and timely products to our clients spread across the country. \

Services offered: Children’s book designing solutions: illustration, concept, design etc.

Future plans: To connect with international publishers and provide them our services.

Book fair participation: New Delhi World Book Fair.

Orient Publishing House

Ramesh BathlaOrient Publishing House publishes books on the Indian legal system. Their books are recommended by academicians and experts, and highly regarded by students of law and jurisprudence. Besides publishing legal books Orient-Publishing House also sells and binds books.

Founded by: Ramesh Bathla in 1974.

Our USP: To publish latest amendments from supreme court and high courts. \

Products offered: Law books.

Challenges faced: When new acts/laws replace old ones, changes need to be reflected through reprints.

Future plans: To publish thesis of PhD law students

Pragati Prakashan

Mudit MittalPragati started by publishing books of Mathematics in English and Hindi for Class XII. Since then, they have been publishing books on Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Environmental Science. The publisher was the first in India to introduce books for post -graduate students by Indian authors. Their publications include handbooks of electronics and topic wise books for MSc Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics written by eminent authors.

Founded by: KK Mittal in 1955.

Our USP: Our expertise is in young level science subjects; continuous focus on quality and our extensive reach because of our vast dealer network.

Products offered: Science books for higher education; English medium school books; books for distance learning programme and competitive exams.

Milestone, awards and achievements: Best stall setup at Kolkata Book Fair. Brain Mate, which is part of Pragati, is first in Meerut to offer animation CDs with books (2009), e-books with paper books, as also the first to launch computer books.

Challenges faced: Unorganised industry with no statistics, no government support, no check on quality of education, no check on books for duplicity/piracy/photocopying,

Future plans: We aim to become a leading e-education provider, bringing all verticals online and under one roof. We want to associate with ongoing e-shiksha abhiyan of the government

Book fair participation: New Delhi World Book Fair, Patna Book Fair and Visakhapatnam Book Fair.

Rastogi Publications

H K RastogiRastogi Publications was established in 1931 by two young professionally trained and well educated brothers, who had sufficient experience of the book publishing business in their family publishing company. They started this company with the sole objective of providing Indian students with moderately priced well-produced standard textbooks, authored by eminent teachers having specialisation in their respective branches of study. Rastogi Publications focuses on publishing university level textbooks on Botany, Zoology, Biological Concepts, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Environmental Science, Agriculture and related areas, Physics, Engineering, Political Science etc.

Founded by: PS Rastogi in 1931.

Our USP: We provide quality life science textbook for undergraduate recommended by university.

Products offered: Textbooks for school and college levels.

Milestone, awards and achievements: Several awards by FIP; we have been receiving publishing excellence award for many years.

Future plans: To bring more and more quality textbooks for Indian university from eminent authors.

Book fair participation: New Delhi World Book Fair, Patna Book Fair, Guwahati Book Fair and Frankfurt Book Fair.

Arvind Prakashan Pvt Ltd

Chandrkant MittalArvind Prakashan Pvt Ltd is a publishing house that has set benchmarks in publishing high quality books since 1971. They publish fiction and non-fiction books of international quality, covering a wide range of subjects. They also publish school textbooks and supplementary materials based on NCERT, CBSE, ICSE and state educational boards’ syllabi.

Founded by: Ajay Kumar Mittal in 1971.

Our USP: Our objective is to produce good content for end users in an ethical way. Therefore, we use chemical-free paper and good quality printing and binding for public schools for K-10 segment Products offered: Educational and children’s book; books in different languages for several state boards

Milestone, awards and achievements: IBBY Honour List 2008 for ‘Panna the Lonely Duckling’ in illustrator’s category (an award given by Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children).

Challenges faced: Prices of books, decreasing moral value, unethical and unhealthy competition and declining book-reading habit.

Future plans: We want to contribute in growing this segment by focusing on quality and content for online education and e-books.

Book fair participation: New Delhi World Book Fair, Patna Book Fair and Frankfurt Book Fair.

Vardhman Books International Pvt Ltd

Anuj JainSince 1980, Vardhman Industries has been a major force in the area of dissemination of knowledge. It is a leading high-class copy manufacturing unit. Today, Vardhman Books International needs no introduction as it has emerged to become one of India’s largest academic publishing houses with a wide range of K-12 textbooks that are supported with multimedia interactive modules and online teacher’s support. In 2009 they started publishing children’s books and within a short period they have created a mark for themselves in the industry. The vision that propels Vardhman’s books is to inform, instruct, enlighten, bring loads of amusement and make learning a joy. All books published by Vardhman are conceived, designed, illustrated, edited and graded for different age groups.

Founded by: Anuj Jain in 2009.

Our USP: We have strong customer base, quality books and good production facility to cater to primary-12 segment of school education.

Products offered: Children’s books, general books and story books.

Milestone, awards and achievements: We became one of the top players in five months.

Challenges faced: The difference between Delhi and Meerut publishers who compare the two markets in terms of quality.

Future plans: To diversify higher education books and develop e-content/e-books.

Hallmark India

Ghanshyam Das GuptaHallmark India started its journey in 1982 with the purpose of upholding the standards of publishing books and contributing towards enlightening young minds. The publisher has always resorted to highly professional authors and editors who possess deep insights into modern pedagogies and research methodologies. To ensure that efforts put in by authors bear the sweetest fruits, Hallmark trains and deploys genuinely talented technicians and designers for a pictorial and systematic presentation of contents. The publisher attaches due importance in incorporating advances in the IT sector, specially the way it is facilitating research, collaboration & digital learning.

Founded by: Ghanshyam Ram Gupta in 1982.

Our USP: We publish books after reading all the content thoroughly. Quality printing, quality content and quality paper are important to us.

Products offered: K-12 and children’s books.

Milestone, awards and achievements: Best Printing and Production Award.

Challenges faced: Searching for new books and good quality content to publish.

Future plans: Want new publishing company to publish quality content.

Book fair participation: New Delhi Book Fair, Patna Book Fair.