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Penguin India is planning to expand its business to Pakistan and Middle East countries. As part of the expansion plan, the publishing house will bring out about 240 books in the current year. Penguin will also celebrate its 21st anniversary and to mark the occasion, Penguin India is organising its second annual lecture on October 13 to be delivered by British diplomat and author Chris Patten
Penguin India CEO and President Mike Bryan told PTI that,"Recently, we have started our operations in China and Korea and in Singapore in 2001. Now we are looking to expand our business in Pakistan and Middle East countries," .
He, however, did not disclose the possible time-frame for starting the company's operations in these countries.
The publishing house, which brings out about 200 books each year, is, currently, witnessing a sales growth of about 22 per cent, he said.
"We publish around 200 books every year, but we have always had a 10 per cent increase in the number books each year. So we are trying to maintain it and take it up to 240 books this year," he said.
Though the overall sale of Penguin's books in India is negligible compared with that on the UK and the US, Bryan said India has witnessed a "tremendous growth" in the last 4-5 years.
He attributes this growth to expansions in the retail business, opening of more bookshops and also big malls and showrooms.
"Penguin's books are available in around 1,000 stores across the country and 20-50 shops are opened every year. So with such an increase, we expect a decent growth in our business too," he added.
On the kind of books that the publishing house is focusing on, Bryan said business, motivational and children's books are currently doing well in India.
"... so in the next three years we will be publishing more of such kind of books compared to the rest," he added.
The Rs 100-crore company, currently, enjoys a 25 per cent share in the Indian publishing market.
"It's still difficult to say how big the Indian publishing industry as it is not yet organised. But I believe it will be about Rs 400 crore a year, said. | 
