DNA bypasses Delhi, lands up in Jaipur

In May 2005, when Diligent Media Corp., the joint venture between the Dainik Bhaskar Group and the Zee Group, launched its English daily, DNA (Daily News & Analysis), in Mumbai, it was presumed that the newspaper’s next destination would be Delhi. Instead, it has concentrated more on West India and just launched its fifth edition in Jaipur.

DNA claims a print run of 40,000 in Jaipur (Rajasthan) and will compete there with The Times of India, which had entered the city in the '80s and closed down a couple of years back. It re-entered the city only last month. The other player in the market, Hindustan Times, also closed down its Jaipur edition and is currently serving the city with its Delhi edition.

According to an official release, DNA’s Jaipur edition will be customised to meet the needs of Jaipur readers. Dwaipayan Bose is the resident editor.

Besides Mumbai and Jaipur, DNA has editions in Ahmedabad and Surat (Gujarat) and in Pune (Maharashtra).

“We are looking at having a presence in all the major cities in India and the Jaipur launch is a step towards that,” KU Rao, chief executive officer, Diligent Media Corp., was quoted as saying in an official press release.