core sector communique

55th Annual Report of RNI 2010- 11: “Press in India” presented to Secretary (I&B)
Percentage of growth of registered publications increase by 6.25% over the previous year
4853 New newspapers registered during 2010- 11

The Press Registrar, Shri T. Jayaraj, RNI presented the 55th Annual Report “Press in India” 2010-11 to the Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Shri Uday Kumar Varma.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary (I&B) said, the Annual Report was a compendium of interesting data containing status of print media in the country. He said, based on previous years’ trends, a comparative analysis of different newspapers in circulation, their growth over a period of time and further comparative statements could be presented through graphs in the next year Annual Report. This would add value to the Report thereby becoming an important reference point for key stakeholders in the industry.

The Annual Report has highlighted key trends for the Indian press for the Year 2010- 11. The analysis provides a broad overview about the general trend of the Indian press based on the number and claimed circulation of newspapers.

The total number of registered newspapers stood at 82,237. 4853 New newspapers were registered during 2010- 11. The percentage of growth for registered publications over the previous year was 6.25%. RNI approved 13,229 titles for the year 2010 ending March 31st 2011. The largest number of newspapers and periodicals registered in any Indian language was in Hindi with a figure of 32,793. English had the second largest number of newspapers and periodicals which was 11,478. The total circulation of newspapers stood at 32,92,04,841 as against 30,88,16,563 copies in 2009- 10. The number of Annual statements received in RNI for the year 2010- 11 upto 15 June 2011 was 14,508 against 13,134 in 2009- 10 registering an increase of 10.46%.

As per the data from the Annual statements received, the highest number of newspapers were published in Hindi (7910), followed by English (1406), Urdu (938), Gujarati (761), Telugu (603), Marathi (521), Bengali (472), Tamil (272), Oriya (245), Kannada (200) and Malayalam (192). In terms of circulation, according to the report, Hindi newspapers continued to lead with 15,54,94,770 copies followed by English with 5,53,70,184 copies. Urdu press had a figure of 2,16,39,230 copies.

The report is a statutory requirement under Section 19 G of the PRB Act, 1867. The 722 pages report, carrying 11 Chapters has been compiled by the Officials of RNI. It is an analysis of the Indian Press which focuses mainly on circulation as claimed by the newspapers. It also carries different Chapters viz ownership of newspapers, analysis of daily newspapers, language wise study of the press and analysis of registered newspapers. The source of information of the report is the Annual Statements submitted by the publishers of newspapers and periodicals etc in accordance with 19 D of the Act.