Delhi, India
I am a publishing entrepreneur and industry leader with over two decades of experience driving growth, collaboration, and transformation across the global publishing and education sectors. As the Managing Director of Prints Publications and Swets Information Services, I lead organisations dedicated to advancing knowledge dissemination, content access, and publishing excellence. I am also the Founder of BuyBooksIndia.com, Advit Toys, and Aviraj Educational Resources. Over the past two decades, I have worked at the intersection of publishing, education, technology, copyright, and content distribution, building businesses and initiatives that support the evolving needs of the knowledge economy. I currently serve as the Vice President of The Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) and the elected Secretary-General of the Indian Reprographic Rights Organisation (IRRO). Internationally, I am the Chairman of the Data & Statistics Committee of the International Publishers Association (IPA), Geneva, and an elected Director of the Afro-Asia Book Council. I am honoured to be the first recipient of FIP's Outstanding Young Global Leader Award, recognising my contributions to the publishing industry. As a frequent speaker at national and international forums, I share perspectives on publishing, digital transformation, copyright, education, and industry development. My articles and opinion pieces have appeared in leading newspapers, journals, and industry publications, and I am the author of a book on IP Reprographic Rights. I remain passionate about advancing innovation, strengthening publishing ecosystems, protecting intellectual property, and creating sustainable opportunities for authors, publishers, and rights holders worldwide.
I have been associated with the Federation of Indian Publishers since 2016 as the elected Executive Committee Member for the tenure of 2016-2018, followed by my tenure of elected Joint Secretary for the organization. This association has provided me to lead the Indian Publishing Industry at various global conferences, events and I have also taken the foot forward to contribute my heart & soul to projects like India Book Market Report 2022 and the curation + launch of the book ‘75 Years of Book Publishing in India’. I have actively led all their digital projects right from their digital presence through their website, managing their communications from social media platforms, and creating the first and the largest virtual book fair during the most difficult of times - the COVID-19 pandemic. I also act as the lead for the sponsorship committee to raise funds for all the initiatives of the organization and spokesperson for the media, industry & Government forums. The Federation of Indian Publishers is the representative body of publishers in English, Hindi, and other regional languages with its membership from all over India, representing more than 80 percent of the publishing industry. All the leading publishers of the country are its direct members, other publishers being represented through various local associations. The Federation is growing stronger and stronger day by day and it has played an important role in making India considered & respected as a significant publishing industry, globally.
I gained the opportunity to be associated with the International Publishers Association (IPA) through The Federation of Indian Publishers for the 32nd International Publishers Congress hosted in New Delhi in February 2018. I was part of the Organising Committee of IPA congress 2018 as the Chairman of the Sponsorship Committee. I have also bestowed the opportunity to leadand manage all digital promotions of the event with the guidance of the FIP and the IPA. I have been representing the Federation of Indian Publishers in the General assembly meetings of IPA since 2018. Another milestone in this journey was to become the elected Executive Committee member in 2020 for the tenure beginning in 2021. This relationship has allowed me to represent my years of experience in the publishing domain at events like the International Publishers Congress and the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 42nd SCCR Summit. The IPA is the world’s largest federation of national, regional, and specialist publishers’ associations. Our membership comprises 86 organizations from 71 countries in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and the Americas. It represents the interests of the publishing industry in international fora and wherever publishers’ interests are at stake. The IPA has 125 years long glorious history and I firmly believe that in a world that is plagued by the problems of gender-based prejudice and curbing of the freedom of expression, IPA stands as a testament to equity for all as it promotes copyright and “freedom to publish” proactively while supporting equal opportunities for all and any genders.
I joined the enterprise in 2007 and took over the operations of Prints Publications (then known as PRINTS INDIA) which was in rough waters to steer it out to its current significant market share. I was successful in providing strategic direction to the company to expand and grow beyond its current operations. As a Business Head, I explored and established the company in Asian, African, European, and North American markets and developed a sound International Business Network. The company further focused on South East Asian countries whereas my focus areas remained exploring the US and Canada. The current business also magnificently operates within the Middle East with major exports to GCC countries. Prints Publications is robustly growing in the publishing sphere by publishing premium journals & books of various genres such as academic & reference, K-12 Books, Children's Books, and Trade books. We are preferred partners for various renowned societies, educational institutions, and authors of International repute. For over 5 decades, Prints Publications have been the most proliferate and resourceful source for Books, Journals, Newspapers, Magazines, and Periodicals. The business has a track record of delivering exceptional customer service and has proved its mettle multiple times by winning various awards for Quality and Export Performance from many organizations, including prestigious honours from CAPEXIL, the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India. We have a large and diversified base of customers ensuring successful ongoing feedback from all esteemed clients. To know more about Prints Publications, click here: https://www.printspublications.com/
I have been associated with the Indian Reprographic Rights Organization since 2016, in the capacity of Executive Committee member of the governing council and then later I was elected as the secretary general of the organization in 2018. As the Secretary-General I overview the entire operations of the organization, represent IRRO before various ministries and departments of the Government of India, the Copyright Office of India, and at international bodies like the International Publishers Association (IPA) Geneva, International Federation of Reprographic Rights Organization (IFRRO) Brussels, and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). I also work collaboratively with numerous publisher's associations worldwide and reprographic rights organizations in various countries. Under my leadership with my team at IRRO, we have created the digital presence of IRRO by creating their website, managing their social media presence with the primary objective of advocating respect for copyright, and have been organizing both virtual and physical events on the occasions of ‘World Book and Copyright Day’ and awareness seminars in schools, colleges and education institutions inculcating the habit amongst the readers to respect the rights of the rights-holders. IRRO is a copyright society established in the year 2000 under Section 33 of the Copyright Act, 1957. It represents the rights of authors and publishers of literary works and has global affiliations with international organizations like IFRRO. Registered by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India, IRRO is exclusively permitted to commence and carry on the copyright business of “reprographic rights in the field of literary works” in India. It is the sole licensing authority to issue licenses to users of copyrighted works of its members, collect royalties on the behalf of rights owners and distribute them.
Buy Books India, a startup founded in the year 2009 began its business by selling books online. This was a time when e-commerce platforms were new in the market and I being born in a relatively growing digital era, wanted to test these waters. The primary objective was to promote Indian Publishers and Authors. The business has successfully sustained and operated over the years. Currently, Buy Books India holds a vast pool of happy customers while efficiently delivering orders in Pan India. As the founder of BuyBooksIndia.com I take pride in its inception, and journey so far. I truly believe in its vision & mission of delivering reading opportunities from quality books across the globe. Explore a world of unlimited books at your fingertips, right here: https://www.buybooksindia.com/