DLA spreads its wings in Delhi, Noida

The splinter group of Amar Ujala is moving fast to cover Delhi and Noida. Vikassheel Bharat, a fortnightly magazine, is also in the pipeline

DLA Media, which was covering just East Delhi so far with its compact Hindi afternooner, DLA, has now expanded the publication's reach to cover the rest of Delhi and Noida. The group will also bring out a fortnightly ‘magpaper’, called Vikassheel Bharat (VB), targeting rural and semi-urban areas.

According to Ajay Agarwal, chief editor, DLA, Noida will soon have a separate edition of DLA. Currently, the Ghaziabad printing centre, besides catering to that town, is also catering to East Delhi. The Noida printing centre will cater to the rest of Delhi.

DLA is a splinter group of Amar Ujala and has been named after Amar Ujala's founder, Dori Lal Agarwal. DLA also stands for Daily Life Assistance and was first launched in Agra in March 2007.

Agarwal tells afaqs! that prior to the Delhi and Noida launch, around 30,000 copies of DLA were being printed. That number is expected to go up to 70,000 copies now. The chief editor claims that the publication is aiming for one lakh copies in the region in the next couple of months.

The 16-page compact afternooner is priced at Rs 2 and will be mainly subscription driven. About 30 per cent will be sold through cash sales points and directly to Delhi Metro commuters. “Our target audience consists of businessmen, commuters, women and the youth,” Agarwal says.

DLA is currently printed from six cities – Agra, Ghaziabad, New Delhi, Noida, Meerut and Jhansi. Agarwal informs us that it will soon cover Moradabad, Lucknow and Bareilly, too. He claims a total print run of more than three lakh copies from all the printing centres of DLA.

Meanwhile, the soon to be launched VB will be a rural based magazine and will be launched in the Hindi belt – Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and, later, Bihar. Agarwal loves to call the publication a 'magpaper' “because it is a magazine printed in a newspaper format”.

The 32-page, all-colour, compact sized fortnightly 'magpaper' will cover issues pertaining to rural and semi-urban life and the rural economy.

Agarwal refused to divulge the cover price of the fortnightly or any other details of its distribution.

For the record, DLA Media also publishes a morninger, DLA am, in Agra.

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