 ink, a single drop, a veritable universe of ideas, a tiny seed that holds in its glass a million thoughts, splashed across a blank piece of paper like a free bird, soaring across the great blue sky, a riot of colors oozing over the canvas, painting emotions of every hue, weaving a silken web of poetry and literature, composing a raging symphony of sagas and folklore, ink, a black palette of vibrant colors, a chronicle of the Indian publishing industry, the story of a journey, it was the dawn of the 20th century, India was struggling to cast away the yoke of colonial rule, when the power of print roared in its fiery fury, the year was 1913, the renowned poet W. B. Yeats was mesmerized by an Indian's writing, an innocuous but talented man won the Nobel Prize for literature that year, Rabindranath Tagore, it was a moment of pride and glory for every Indian, a new path had opened up, the Indian publishing industry has come a long way, today the industry stands tall and majestic in the world, statistics have proven that India has a powerful presence in the global publishing sector, it is counted among the top names with numbers to match its enormity, these mind-boggling numbers rest on the shoulders of the stalwarts that comprise this gigantic market, the publishing houses that have been at the forefront of change, a change that enabled the disorganized sector to become more definite, more structured and more accessible, the need for professionalism in publication has enabled players to reach unprecedented heights, the Indian publishing industry has been doing rather well I would say over the past few years and also because of the profile of the country and the profile of the publishing industry that you have a lot of interest from all over the world in Indian publishing, the most important achievement of the Indian publishing industry is that it has been able to uphold the freedom of expression that it has been guaranteed by the constitution, that I think is the most important thing and then secondly it has always grappled with the times, the changing times and the changing needs The first Prime Minister of India, an accomplished writer himself, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, established the National Book Trust and was the first president of Sahitya Academy, an organization that seeks to promote Indian literature in myriad Indian languages. Mahatma Gandhi established the Navajeevan trust to create public opinion, writers from the myriad regions of India carrying their little nuggets of literary gems, acquired a voice, a platform to launch their creative careers, a wide array of genres exist in the Indian market ranging from novels, children's books, encyclopedias, biographies, spiritual and self-help, literature, poetry and the biggest segment, educational books. This particular segment has reported a growth of 20% per annum, the highest rate anywhere in the world. Indian writing is now available not only in English but in other Indian languages as well. Writers of Hindi, Punjabi, Bangla, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and other languages enjoy the readership and recognition of vast number of Indians. First of all India is a hugely diverse country with a number of very important languages, important in terms of both the industry and in terms of the depth of analysis in which languages cater to people and also because of the very diversity of India and India's culture and economy there are a number of ways in which the publishing industry can grow in a number of areas. So it's the very diversity which provides this industry lots of new innovations The industry's turnover in national and international sales has increased 10 fold in the last 20 years with rising success, gain recognition and international affiliations for the industry. Invitations to international events has guests of honour have now become a norm. We have been doing guest of honour programs in some countries like Frankfurt in Germany, London, Moscow while there have been demands from various other countries. The print industry is the back-end support of publishing. In the world market it is ranked in the top 10. In India it has been one of the fastest and largest growing sectors in the last decade. Digital printing and processors, efficient handling of the digital workflow and flexibility of print finishing techniques have made the operating environment world-class. Faster production and consistent high quality has leered publishers from other countries to India. German, Spanish, French and the publishers send these books to us for printing. They go back to them after being printed. India is huge in terms of languages, readers, writers and publishers. The sheer variety and volume of the current market scenario is unmatched. Foreign investors are eyeing the Indian market as a great business opportunity. The unexplored and projected potential of the industry promises growth at an exponential rate. India is the market leader in creating electronic content and also digitising books, so the digital origination which now last year I think was about two billion dollars worth of to India. That is a huge plus. If you compare India to other large markets like China, India is a much more open investment environment. In magazines 100% FDI is allowed, in most of the sectors other than news reporting, foreign investments are allowed. I think most of the investors would like to come to India because of the cost-effectiveness and a good quality which is of course being derived from this transition of the technology. Various national and international book fairs are held to keep the reading population satiated and updated with the latest ideas in print. These fairs provide the ideal opportunity for publishers to put up their titles for enthusiasts. With changing times, the format of communication has changed. The advent of the digital age has made it possible for publishers to explore the option of digitising their publications. There is an undercurrent of innovative ideas waiting to break surface. A goldmine of new concepts about to be unearthed. Better education and better lifestyle have brought in its wake a new breed of writers and readers. The industry is a restless creature poised to soar. The future holds great opportunities and it's coming closer. Let's enter into the light of progress and glory.