In speaking with industry insiders, suppliers and practitioners over the past months, we gather that the publishing and print industry remains resilient. The implication is that it’s part of their business to handle the daily political and economic events, including new rules and regulations, both domestically and globally. These events have an impact, but as in most democracies, Indian publishers and printers take them in stride. They generally do not wait for positive developments in their continuing efforts to grow.
The Indian newspaper industry is expected to continue its recovery and is likely to grow in revenue by 3 to 4% in the coming year, as long as global newsprint prices and freight rates remain benign. The industry is likely to track what we consider to be the real GDP growth rate. At the same time, several parallel universes are emerging, and some of these are to do with repackaging history and reality.
The content and book publishing industries remain particularly resilient and mostly impervious to political and economic bumps in the road, whether these are disruptions or merely speedbreakers. There is plenty of material and audience for content creators, writers, and book publishers. Book publishing and printing are particularly strong.
The legacy book publishing and printing industries continue to restructure their resources, with traditional textbook publishers such as Hyderabad-based Dachepalli Publishers Limited raising modest amounts of capital through an IPO on the Small and Medium Enterprises Platform of the Bombay Stock Exchange. The family-owned company’s reported turnover for the financial year 2024-25 ending 31 March 2025 was ₹63.90 crore, showing significant growth in turnover and profit from the previous year, with an EBITDA of ₹12 crore and a profit after tax for the year of ₹7.56 crore.
The promoter Dachepalli family members are divesting 23.29% of their shareholding to raise approximately ₹38 crore, of which ₹25 crore is for working capital and another ₹6 crore is to partially repay borrowings. Loans from the promoters and family members to the company amount to ₹28 crore in its books, and with the continued growth in turnover and profitability as in the past three years, these could gradually be paid back. The company does not have a track record of paying dividends in recent years.
Indian book printing exports will continue to grow despite severe constraints or limitations in domestically manufactured publication paper varieties. Both offset and digital print are growing, although margins are eroding in major centres. Significant capacity building among structured book exporters continues as they attempt to compete with Southeast Asian and Chinese printers. Multicolor offset capacity in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities is growing gradually despite some glitches in the GST rules for capital investment set-offs and the inverted GST on inputs and saleable output.
The domestic textbook industry remains strong, with some government textbooks being pirated, although the reasons for this are not clear. Is it because the selected and appointed printers cannot deliver adequate supplies in time, or do the subsidized retail prices of government textbooks contain sufficient margins to make piracy profitable despite the risks of breaking the law?
The Indian signage industry, comprising growing road signage, location branding, outdoor displays, and indoor decoration, is growing but unevenly. Its proponents claim that increased urbanization is an impetus for growth of around 4.5% in the country, while global growth is at 2.2%. Digital signage is said to be growing at double-digit rates, but this is from a very small base, and although expectations are for continued growth and an increasing share of the signage pie, the capital investments and infrastructure required are ambitious. Other constraints include a lack of uniform national regulations and laws.
Speaking of signage, which is being obscured by the smog around the city, it is a constant reminder of how far behind we are in basic amenities. Nevertheless, no matter how bleak the AQI in Delhi is these days, best wishes to our readers and supporters for the holidays and the new year!
