Sukumar Das, executive director of UBS Publishers Distributors Ltd and also the chairman of Chemical & Allied Products Export Promotion Council, is well-known in the Indian publishing industry. A post graduate in political science from the Delhi University, Das was one of the few, to give a professional touch to this sector much before foreign publishers touched the Indian shores.

Replying to a questionnaire, Das explains in detail the problems and the prospects of the Indian publishing industry.

On the constitution of the Indian publishing industry

Indian publishers can be divided into three categories commercial, institutional and author-publishers. The central and state government offices also publish books, apart from the publication division of the Union government, National Book Trust, Sahitya Academy, Lalit Kala Academy and NCERT. According to rough estimates around 57,000 new titles are published annually in India, of which 40 per cent are English publications.

Thoughno survey has been undertaken it is estimated that the strength of Indian book industry is almost Rs 6,000 crore and it includes books, newspapers, magazines, periodicals and academic journals.

On the major problems faced by an Indian publisher in reaching out to its potential buyers in domestic and global markets

The market for books is too big to describe within certain parameters, specially applicable after the opening of export market. Every publisher, within his own limitations, tries to cover maximum portion of the market but still a large part of it remains uncovered due to various factors. Promotion of books in the export market is a costly process.

Even large publishing houses are not always able to penetrate the market properly. India's rural population is totally neglected due to lack of distribution outlets. One finds traditional bookshops only in the metros. Public libraries are normally non-existent. Even the sophisticated bookshops in the metroes do not have information on thelatest editions.

Indian publishing industry lacks professionalism. A major part of book publishing and distribution is not undertaken in a well-defined manner. Though the number of titles published have increased over the years, largely due to the nationwide literacy drives, there has been an alarming fall in the print-runs of certain editions and an increase in the unit cost of books.

In India there are almost 16,000 publishers bringing out books in different languages. Some books go out of print every year and prices of some change with newer editions and reprints. This, information hardly reaches the potential buyer. Thus, there is always a wide hiatus between the possible demand and supply.

There is always an interesting enigma in the publising industry on the expected demand of a particular title and the untapped demand. This is a distinct feature of the publishing industry. A book written on a single subject, even on the same subject, but written by two different authors, provides innovativeperception to the reader and should help him to supplement his information. Thus, the reader may like to have some or even all the titles published on the same topic, depending on his budget. With all this in view, the only solution could be a professional approach both in publishing and marketing, to ensure a greater share of the world market.

On the printing technologies that have revolutionised the industry and its impact on the Indian industry

New technology in printing has always been of great help. About two to three decades back books used to be printed either on lino or mono. The desk top publishing has facilitated printing. It allows last minute changes and additions. Similarly, marketing of books has also been made much easier by storing the addresses in computers. E-Mail system has further accelerated the communication process of transmitting the electronic data from one corner of the world to another.

Now, with the introduction of digital printing small print-runs will be madecommercially viable. Digital printing, involving direct printing from the computer data, makes small print-runs economically feasible. It can be relied upon for research monographs and reports, for their expeditious and economical publication. It will also solve the problem of carrying forward large-scale inventory. In an age of quick information changes, digital printing should facilitate timely upgradation of the text and make immediate reprints feasible once the demand of the title catches up.

Printing of promotional material can be undertaken, at this stage, through this process. American and British publishers are using this technology for the marketing of their titles to create wider markets at lesser costs. This has also been made possible through Internet and networking process. In such countries, computer is a ubiquitous phenomena. Almost every person and every household in these countries has it. In India it will take some time.

On Indian publishers switching over to digital printing and thecost involved

The cost of a digital printing machine ranges between between Rs 75 lakhs to Rs 5 crore, depending on its quality and use of its applications. One of the manufacturers of digital printing machinery is Xerox in USA. In a rare cases we find a publisher is also its printer, except Navneet Publications and Hiralal Printers and S Chand. Printing and publishing are viewed as two different professions.

To my information, so far no publisher has found it expedient to install digital printer for publishing books. The job is being entrusted to printers or jobbers. The publisher basically procures manuscripts from the authors, have it suitably edited so as to meet the aspirations of the readers at large, invests in paper, art work, binding and marketing thereby taking the risk of publishing a specified number of copies.

The entire job of publishing is to make it public or make the creative works of authors widely accessible. The success of a publishing venture, after all, basically lies in makingthe titles available to the readers at far off places. On the other hand, unless suitably equipped, the printer is basically concerned with the printing mechanism.

Digital printing in India is still in its infancy. Some printers in Delhi and Mumbai have installed it just for job work. Books are practically out of its purview, at least at present.

On the position of domestic industry vis-a-vis those overseas

UK and US are bigger players than India in the number of titles being published annually. According to the latest statistics compiled in UNESCO Yearbook for 1998, which provides us figures for 1996, India's position is 11th. However, in reality, these figures are based on copies received by the National Library in Calcutta under Delivery of Books Act. Since, in practice, few publishers send books to the library, this figure is quite low compared to the real picture.

As per our estimates, total number of titles published last year were in the range of 57,000, including 40 per cent Englishpublications. This makes India the fifth in the world in terms of the number of titles published.