The cost of books, as a part of the school education budget in India is a humble 5%, at the most. We are not talking about the subsidised books published by the Government. For example, a student studying in a private school in New Delhi, following the state board syllabus, would spend between Rs 20,000-40,000 per annum on school fees alone. As against this, a student will spend a maximum of Rs 800-1000 on textbooks, guides and workbooks.

Vivek Govil, the ex-president and CEO of Pearson Education India, while addressing delegates at a publishing seminar, says: "When a textbook on physics reaches a teacher for evaluation and recommendation, there are 30-odd options on the table. The books may be in different sizes, varying in presentations and in price; but how can the teacher evaluate so many books and decide which is the best for the students? Even if you start teaching, and if it is based on a new book, it will take months before you realise if the product (read content) is good. So, then, content is no more the king. It is price and relationship with teacher/school that sells the book. The low entry barriers in publishing ensures that the pressure on pricing is huge."

This has made companies like Pearson focus on complete solutions which includes training sessions for teachers, educational aids, question banks, workshops; where the book becomes one part of the package and its value is realised in relation to the education process.

Govil points out: "An academic publisher tries to forward integrate and invest in educational institutes, and realises the potential of the content."

One of the biggest publishing houses in the country, the NCERT (National Council of Education Research and Training), an apex resource organisation was established by the government of India in 1961. Headquartered in New Delhi, NCERT assists and advises the central and state governments on academic matters related to school education.

NCERT publishes and distributes millions of textbooks every year. The target for this year is 3,15,00,000. But till 28 April, 2011 the council could get only 1,00,00,000 books to distribute. It is only 30% of the total production. The number of text books went 40-million in academic year 2009-10.

The council has a chain of 341 authorised distributors in the country with 80 of them in Delhi/NCR. According to an authorised distributor, the academic year is about to begin and the demand for books is at its peak. "But we are still struggling with availability of books. This is not a new thing. This has been happening year on year."

At the commencement of every academic year, we hear about the shortage of textbooks. We spoke to a few more dealers and we received the same replies – that there’s shortage of textbooks and the delivery system is doddering.

In Delhi/NCR, a distributor gets 20,000 textbooks after an interval of 15 days. NCERT publishes 400 titles of textbooks – and most are more than 100 pages. Some books contain 500 pages and more. The price range from Rs 15 to 130. On an average NCERT distributes a lakh textbooks per day.

PV Gautam, a parent whose children rely on NCERT books told us that the cost of the books distributed by NCERT were cheaper, but was unhappy with the quality of paper and print. "Preserving these textbooks for a year is a task. Even after protecting them with covers, the books don’t last," says Gautam.

Besides textbooks, NCERT also publishes other books which account for 2,000 titles. Interestingly enough, NCERT doesn’t have any printing press but it has five publishing centres – Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Guwahati. "We are a no-profit-no-loss organisation and our income comes from part one (class 1 to 8)," says an NCERT officer.

Most of the NCERT textbooks are printed by empanelled printers who are selected through a tendering process. These tenders see unhealthy competition which lead to unrealistically low rates for printing. Huge compromises are then made in the production process, in terms of machines, consumables and quality control.

This, in turn, leads to poor quality in production as well as delays in supplies. The rate card of NCERT, is a good example. For binding 1,000 signatures of A4 size book, the rate is Rs 40. That means a book of 10 signatures will fetch 40 paise – this is less than the cost of adhesive used in binding the book. Ironically, the NCERT tender process has witnessed many-more new printers joining the bandwagon.

The point is, the publishing sector in India is highly fragmented. Education is mainly state controlled. Every state has its own text book corporation, publishing school books in English, Hindi and other regional languages. Entry barriers for a new player are low. Today, state government textbook boards form the largest segment of publishers. These boards produce 1.8-2 billion textbooks per annum.

In contrast, private publishers produce textbooks and guides which are based on the national (ICSE, CBSE) syllabus. This include national players; and a few more at the state levels who produce 700-800 million books per annum.

The problem for the book industry is, the fragmentation and competition. This means, cover prices are low. India has the record for producing and selling the ‘cheapest’ textbooks in the world.

As a Delhi book printer says, "There is no value realisation. Content is often cut and paste. Poor quality of paper, compromises on design, mono colour printing, deplorable binding and the list goes on."

Even successful educational publishers, who produce books with good content, keep their cover prices low. And so, even though publishing – and particularly educational publishing forms a large pie of the print market, most of the ‘better’ printers stay away from it for obvious reasons.

Printers doing NCERT work:

Ajay Goel   
Aravali Printers
"Now the book printers are investing in new printing presses; and these new presses need huge investment to get installed. Operations on the new printing machines are expensive. For instance, one requires extra money for operators, plus a well-equipped and properly air-conditioned infrastructure.
NCERT pays just half of the price which we are getting from the market. These lower rates are a major concern. Plus if you are late in production and delivery of the books, then you have to pay a penalty. So the equation is not in our favour."

Yash Pal Anand   
Anand Bros
"The production cost is increasing everyday – but we are working at ten year old rates for NCERT. How long will we survive on these rates? Earlier we used to print more than 30 lakh books. Now-a-days we are producing nine lakh. The production cost for one lakh books is Rs 62,000. The 23 x 36 inches sheet size caters to 80% of the total production of the council. NCERT promised a 20% hike in their prices but have not delivered. At the moment, we need at least 50% hike of their current price to survive. Presently, we are at a loss and no one is willing to work at a loss."

Vijay Kumar   
SPA Printers   
"We are printing books for NCERT since the past 15 years. Now we are printing less books than we did earlier because of low prices. On an average around 150 printers convert 15,000 tons of paper annually for NCERT. From 1999, they have maintained similar prices. For example, NCERT pays Rs 44 per thousand sheets with a size of 23 x 33 inches, one-side, single-colour. Today,  the average rate in the market for a similar job is the double of it. We are working for NCERT for a loss because of our presence on their panel and a long-term relationship with the council."

I N Mittal   
Narain Printers
"The NCERT paper supply is neither systematic nor proper. Sometimes we are stuck in the middle of a printing job because of lack of paper. The council pays less price as compared to the market. Around 90% of the NCERT work is done on sheet sizes of 28 x 40 inches and 23 x 36 inches. For this, they pay Rs 45 and Rs 40 respectively. This is for thousand sheets one-side, one-colour. My point is, inks, consumables, offset presses, electricity and labour prices have increased in the last ten years. Therefore NCERT has to revise their rate if they seek better work output."