Agra-based Oswaal Books is India’s top publisher of educational books—it publishes ‘help books’ for boards such as CBSE, ISC, ICSE and Karnataka, as also for some national competitive exams like JEE Mains and Advanced, NEET, RRB-NTPC, CAT and CLAT. While the Covid-19 pandemic hit the publishing industry very hard—with many even shutting shop—certain publishers (who were into ‘necessary’ books) escaped unscathed. Also, even though a large section of the population is shifting from physical books to e-books and online books, in the school books space that won’t happen, says Prashant Jain, CEO, Oswaal Books. In an interview with FE’s Vikram Chaudhary, he adds that schoolchildren cannot read text books for years on a Kindle or a mobile phone or a pad. “We cannot take chances with their health,” he says. Excerpts:
How big is the publishing industry in India?
According to recent numbers collated from the Nielsen BookData analysis and ISBN Agency data, there are as many as 24,538 book publishers. They are into three categories:
School education: It is the largest in the world by number of students. The government of India mandates that textbook publishers print in full colour (four colours), which has greater printing costs and lower margins. The government is the major stakeholder in school education publishing, followed by private publishers. The number of publishers is 12,910.
Higher education: It’s the third largest in the world by number of students. Higher education publishing includes professional books—scientific, technical, law and medical, among others. Books in this segment are priced comparatively high due to shorter print runs, although the printing cost is lower due to these being printed in two colours. The number of publishers is 8,865.
Trade books: There is a growing market for leisure reading now. These include a broad spectrum of adult fiction, adult non-fiction and children’s books. The number of publishers is 2,763.
That’s quite a heavy number of overall publishers…
Please note that this data is based on a third-party analysis—so actual numbers might be different—and the Covid-19 impact can still be felt on the publishing industry.
So, in which all ways did Covid-19 impact publishing in general?
Publishers were hit as badly as hotels and teachers and schools. Most publishers in India sell their books via schools, and with schools getting closed for almost two years, their sales channel also got negatively impacted.
Some publishers were already negatively impacted before Covid-19, and for many of them the lockdown was the proverbial final nail in the coffin, especially those who were high on debt could not survive this period.
But now that everything has gone back to normal, those publishers who have survived are doing very well; edtech has also gone back to where it was before the pandemic.
Did the rise of the edtech during the pandemic change people’s reading habits?
No. We have realised that even though everyone now has had a flavour of edtech, it is not a replacement for schools, teachers or publishers.
But are physical books increasingly being replaced by digital books?
At least in the school books space, that cannot happen. You see, schoolchildren cannot read text books for years on Kindle or a mobile phone or a pad.
But then many school books are available on Kindle…
Kindle can be a stopgap measure. For example, some physical books may take 2-3 days to be shipped to a student, but on Kindle those books can be accessed immediately. In the long term, however, students and parents end up buying physical books. The eyes of kids are delicate, and in the long term we cannot take a chance with their health.
Also, the sales of trade books or leisure books (adult fiction, adult non-fiction and children’s books) were dropping before the lockdown, but with technology their sales (of the digital copies) have gone through the roof.
How was Oswaal books impacted due to Covid-19?
We are in an area where we don’t sell books via schools. Our books are directly bought by parents and students (we are the biggest brand when it comes to CBSE and ICSE preparatory books). Last two years were brilliant for us, and we grew by 15-20% each year.
We are only into school books and competitive exam books, such as sample papers, question banks and so on, and these segments were not negatively impacted. In fact, the demand increased for these.
According to education sector experts, revival of reading habit is crucial towards building able citizens of tomorrow. In the Union Budget FY24, the finance minister announced that a ‘national digital library’ will be set up, which will make available quality books digitally to help children and adolescents overcome learning losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. What is your take on this step?
This step is likely to benefit the publishing industry. But in general if you ask me about the Budget, it prioritises inclusive development, infrastructure and investment, green growth, and pushing to the last mile by unleashing the potential for the youth and the financial sector. But despite these aspirations, the spending on education has failed to elevate to the point that matches its objectives. There are some noteworthy steps, though, such as 157 new nursing colleges to be established in core education hubs, along with increased employment of 38,800 teachers and support staff for 740 Eklavya model schools in the next three years to support rural and tribal students, as also the development of a national digital library for adolescents and children.