According to Chawla, in India, about 70–80% publishers are not aware of the new technologies and latest developments happening in the print industry worldwide. “Recently, at drupa 2016, I saw that most of the state-of-the-art digital technology on display are already being used by foreign publishers to enhance their books while we are yet to know about them. This holds specifically true for those doing business in tier-2 or smaller Indian cities. If we as a publisher are not with time in learning, adopting and implementing the benefits of new technologies, we are bound to lag behind in the competition. There is an urgent need to educate our industry about the new technologies and how to use these technologies to produce better and interesting books. Compared to international publishers, especially German, British and American, we are neither well equipped nor well managed like them. They are publishing books with the best of content, designing, printing and binding. We, on the other hand, lag in many aspects compared to them.”

 

Printers turning more packaging oriented

Although Indian printers are investing in new technologies and equipment, their focus continues to remain on the packaging and converting industry, feels Chawla. “To make our books more quality-oriented and of international standard, we try and implement whatever features and technologies are available with our printers. But that is not enough. We as a publisher always request our printers to bring in innovative solutions so that we can elevate the quality of our books, but a majority of them are more interested in investing in packaging equipment only. While packaging has a very good scope, publishing and school books still have a great market for the Indian printers and publishers,” he says.

Chawla feels that the children book publishing market has immense potential since parents today understand the importance of books during a child’s formative years. So, printed books are still very popular compared to eBooks. 

 

Building an ethical  and organized platform

What ails the Indian children book publishing industry is the handful of publishers who get involved in malpractices, according to Chawla. He feels that there are a few publishers who resort to illegal means to get recommendation for their low-quality books. “This is rampant and this is a threat not only to our industry but also to the young generation. Although many schools keep away from such unethical practices, there are a few schools that give in to the temptation. A strict law should be implemented by the government against such activities and publishers should resolve not to complicit to unethical practices. Only then the industry can grow in the true sense and stand up to international competitions.”