afaqs! news bureau
Media

It's Official: After MP, Patrika heads towards Chhattisgarh

After a slew of launches in MP, the group is ready to launch in the youngest state of the country soon

Patrika is all set to enter Chhattisgarh with an edition in Raipur and a single edition for Bhilai and Durg.

According to Arvind Kalia, Patrika chose Chhattisgarh to be its next destination for several reasons. "Today, Chhattisgarh a state with the highest GDP growth in India. This in itself is reason enough to rely upon the immense potential of the state. It was amongst the top three states in India which attracted maximum investment proposals in the last fiscal year and has a market size of more than Rs 56 crore."

It's Official: After MP, Patrika heads towards Chhattisgarh
He adds, "With such impressive statistics, the newspaper market still needs to bloom to its desired potential. Among a breed of young readers, pro-change readers and readers with a national and global outlook, the acceptance rate is very high and a product which pro-actively answers their need is awaited eagerly. The available offering is not delivering up to the readers' expectations."

BR Singh, general manager, circulation, Patrika Group, says, "We have already registered an encouraging figure in terms of orders in these cities. Orders in Raipur stand at 92,000 and in Bhilai and Durg, we have orders for 46,000 and 23,000 copies, respectively."

Anticipating the launch plans of Patrika, the other major Hindi dailies in the city and adjoining areas had started gearing up for the competition some time ago. The existing Hindi newspapers in the area of Raipur, Bhilai and Durg have planned their counter strategies to make sure that the shift of readers is minimised.

From reduction of prices in the upcountry editions to introduction of new products, low cost variants and changes in the existing product composition, they are trying various methods.

Rajasthan Patrika has 12 editions within the state of Rajasthan and five editions coming out from the non-Hindi speaking Indian states including Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Apart from this, Rajasthan Patrika, which decided to shed the word 'Rajasthan' from its name, has become the biggest gainer in the state of MP as per IRS Q2, 2010. It covers MP with six editions including Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Ratlam, Jabalpur and Gwalior.

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com