Tarun Bharat celebrates its silver jubilee in Goa; plans to launch Mumbai edition

On completing 25 years in the state, the Marathi newspaper will come out with a 100-page edition

Tarun Bharat, the Marathi newspaper, will celebrate 25 years of its existence in Goa, on January 11. To mark its silver jubilee celebrations, the daily will come out with a 100-page edition on Monday, January 12. Titled Goa - Vision 2025, the special edition will talk about the future of Goa, as seen through the eyes of prominent people from various strata of life, such as politics, education, culture and business.

The daily will also host a get-together of about 10,000 people on Monday, which will include a mix of its readers, advertisers and the staff.

The group is also planning to launch Tarun Bharat's Mumbai edition by October this year. Goa was the second edition of the newspaper, the first being Belgaum, Karnataka, launched in 1919. Currently, the newspaper has seven editions - Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Goa, Belgaum and Ratnagiri - spread across Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.

Talking about the Goa edition, Deepak Prabhu, chief executive officer, Tarun Bharat, says, "Tarun Bharat has been instrumental in covering the Goa liberation struggle by playing an active part in it. When we launched 25 years back, none of the players were covering the whole of Goa. And ever since we entered the market, we decided to be an extremely localised offering that covered small incidents happening in the state."

"The scenario in Goa has changed completely. Now, the competition is fierce; but unlike other big publications in the Goa market, we are only into the publication business. In fact, our not being affiliated to any political party makes us the preferred paper of Goa. The credibility of our reportage works very well to our advantage," he explains.

The ad percentage of the Goa edition stands at 38-40 per cent, on an average. Prabhu adds that the newspaper has 800 staff on its payrolls, 2,600 agents and 1,200 reporters across its various editions.

Of the total population of 15 lakh, Goa has a Hindu population of about 9.75 lakh, of which 65 per cent reads Marathi newspapers. Tarun Bharat was the second Marathi paper to launch in Goa after Gomantak, which was launched in 1963. Today, the newspaper faces competition from Lokmat, Pudhari, Nav Prabha and Goa Doot, apart from Gomantak, which is its closest competitor. Lokmat, launched in April 2009, is the youngest player in the region.

The Goa edition of Tarun Bharat comprises 16 pages on an average, and is priced at Rs 3. It also has four supplements along with the main edition: Khazana - a general knowledge based booklet on Wednesdays; Champion - focussing on kids till class 9 on Saturdays; Akshar Yatra - focussing on current topics of interest on Sundays and Gharkul - a realty supplement on Mondays. Tarun Bharat's circulation in Goa is 42,000, as per Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC).

Till 2002, the Goa edition was published from Belgaum. In that year, the group set up its printing location in Goa, which now caters to two editions - Goa and Sindhudurg.

The newspaper follows the cash sales model, and has around 400 agents and 23 taxi routes delivering its paper in the state.

The group is looking at expanding its presence in Maharashtra and introduce an edition of Tarun Bharat in Mumbai by the end of this year. The newspaper already has a bureau office located at Dadar.

"Mumbai is an obvious choice for us. Since at least one member of the family where we are reaching today stays in Mumbai, and they want to know what is happening in their hometown. And through this edition, we will try to give them local coverage from all our seven editions," says Prabhu.

The daily plans to set up its print location in Navi Mumbai, and aims to reach a print run of 50,000 copies within three months of launch. The group is also contemplating starting an edition from Pune.

In February 2008, Tarun Bharat faced a price war in Goa, when its competitor, Gomantak reduced its price to Re 1. However, though Tarun Bharat's circulation dipped slightly, it did not resort to price slashing and stayed at Rs 3. Within a span of seven months, Gomantak also increased its price back to Rs 3. Lokmat is still priced at Re 1; and as per industry experts, the paper follows the Re 1 route for two years, in whichever market it is launched, before making any changes in its pricing strategy.

Kiran Thakur, editor, Tarun Bharat says, "Its milieu and responsive reader base has found true representation in Tarun Bharat, enabling it to reign over not only circulation figures, but also the heart of every Goan. It helps to be politically neutral; for you become the true torchbearer of the populace in every aspect. Tarun Bharat has seen Goa grow into today's modern state by not witnessing the change from the periphery, but by being a part of the process for all these 25 years. And that is what makes this journey so special."

The group has recently shifted its headquarters to a new location in Belgaum.

For the record, Tarun Bharat was established by Late Shri Baburao Thakur, a freedom fighter, educationist and social activist.