Hindi dailies reach 10.79 crore; circulation of English dailies at 2.27 crore

The report said the highest number of dailies (4,496) are being published in Hindi with a combined circulation of over 10.79 crore copies, according to an annual report of the government released by Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday.

Hindi dailies is followed by 1,123 copies in Urdu with a combined circulation of over 2.02 crore, 1,078 dailies in Telugu with a combined circulation of over 1.38 crore and English with 811 dailies have a total circulation of over 2.27 crore copies per publishing day, respectively.

According to the report, there were 717 dailies in Kannada, 694 in Marathi, 383 in Gujarati, 178 in Tamil, 127 in Malayalam and Odia.

“The claimed circulation of dailies increased from 22,57,26,209 to 23,22,92,405 copies per publishing day, showing an increase of 2.91 per cent,” it said.

As per the data received from publishers for the year 2022-23, the highest numbers of periodicals were in Hindi (16,782) followed by Marathi (2,753), English (2,443), Telugu (2,279), Gujarati (2,019), Urdu (1,705), Kannada (1,336), Tamil (874), Bengali (536), Odia (426) and Malayalam (340).

"In terms of circulation, Hindi periodicals continued to lead with 19,96,36,883 copies followed by English (3,93,11,277); Marathi (3,66,90,734); Urdu (2,46,78,971); Telugu (2,13,05,637); Gujarati (1,71,57,174); and Malayalam (1,08,34,051)," the report said. PTI PK PK SKY SKY

India has witnessed a “remarkable growth” in the number periodicals with over 1.48 lakh publications registered in the country till March 31 last year, stated the report.

Most of the periodicals were registered in English and other languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution while some others were also registered in 189 other languages or dialects and in a few foreign languages, the government report said.

“As per records, 1,48,363 print periodicals have been registered in India till March 31, 2023. The financial year 2022-23 witnessed a remarkable growth in the number of registered periodicals,” the report, titled, ‘Press in India 2022-23’, said.

The rise in the number of registered periodicals can “perhaps” be seen as a pointer towards the fact that despite the proliferation of audio visual and digital or on-line media, it has not substantially affected the growth of the print media in the country, it said.

“It continues to empower the common citizen, help them make informed decisions and assert their rights, encouraging them to be active participants in the democratic as well as nation-building processes,” the report added.

The report said the print media has responded “appropriately” to the challenges posed by changes in information and communication technologies.

“Statistics show that there is inclination towards the regional language periodicals among readers and that is why such periodicals are venturing out to bring editions from other cities where there is a sizeable population of people speaking these languages,” it said.

As per the annual statements received from the publishers for 2022-23, the report said, the number of dailies being published in the country was 10,152 as against 10,038 during 2021-22.

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