Bhavana Puljal - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
Nava Bharat, the Hindi daily, will launch its new edition from Nasik on August 15, 2009, which would be its fourth edition in Maharashtra and twelfth in India. In Maharashtra, the daily has editions in Nagpur, Mumbai and Pune. The Pune edition, which had closed down in 2001, was re-launched on July 2, 2009.

The Nasik edition, which will be targeted at Hindi speaking individuals, will have an initial print-run of 25,000 copies and a cover price of Rs 3. The edition will have 16 pages, of which four would be dedicated to Nasik, as a supplement titled 'Nasik Plus', according to Nimish Maheshwari, managing director, Nava Bharat (Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh).

Nava Bharat, which was founded in 1934 by Ramgopal Maheshwari from Nagpur, split into two groups early this decade. The Nagpur-based group is referred to as Nava Bharat (Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh) and the Bhopal-based group as Nava Bharat (Madhya Pradesh).

Nava Bharat (Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh) publishes the Maharashtra editions, as well as the Raipur and Bilaspur editions in Chhattisgarh, besides the English daily, Central Chronicle from Raipur.

Nava Bharat (Madhya Pradesh) brings out the Bhopal edition and five more editions in Madhya Pradesh - Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Chhindwara and Satna. It also publishes the Central Chronicle from Bhopal.

Regarding the expansion plans, Maheshwari says, "We have received a huge response in the Maharashtra region. To expand our foot print, the next destination for the group will be launching editions in Amravati and Akola, however, the launch dates for these two editions are not decided as yet."

Nearly 60 lakh readers in five states – Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka – woke up to Nava Bharat and Central Chronicle daily. As per the Indian Readership Survey (R1, 2009), Nava Bharat (Maharashtra/Chhattisgarh) has a total readership of 44.77 lakh; while Nava Bharat (Madhya Pradesh) has a total readership of 22.36 lakh.

For the record, the group also has interests in newsprint production under Madhya Pradesh Papers Ltd, based in Nagpur.