Corona kills: Two thousand crore industry related to publishing hangs, 1400 employees become unemployed

During the corona epidemic, the Meerut city-locked industry worth Rs 2,000 crore is locked up. Publishing institutes have been going through a situation of closure since 2020. The printers who work for the publishers have had a payment of more than 300 crores for two years. The entire channel in the city is affected from printers, publications, distributors to retailers.

Sales of books have come down due to online studies. Locks have been hanging at publishers, printers, and binders' establishments for two years due to non-payment and restrictions of Covid. Many printers and binders have not only vacated the rented shops, but they have also sold machines to pay the bank's debt.

The city has about 70 printers, 80 children's book publishers, and 22 higher education book publishers. A publisher has an annual investment of several hundred crores, whose returns he receives the following year. Business in 2019 went on like before, but in 2020 restrictions came into force at the time of payment. This year the situation has become even more worrisome.

Payment of electricity bills stuck

The average electricity bill of those who install offset printing machines is 54 thousand rupees. Many businesses were unable to collect bills and disconnections due to the shutdown of the machines. Most merchants operate from the bank at the CC limit. Bank interest is also increasing due to crores of rupees getting trapped in the market.

1400 employees unemployed in a month

Large publishing institutions have fired employees for two years of losses. In April this year, more than 1400 employees have been laid off. Meanwhile, some printers have declared themselves bankrupt and have sold shops and machines.

240 crore revenue loss to the government.

Most paper is used in printing. Copybooks are not GST, but the paper is taxed. In such a situation, the publishing industry of Meerut directly gives a GST of 240 crores per year to the government. The tax has not been paid due to the closure of the business this year.

Association officials said - government should forgive the interest of banks

The government should waive bank interest to give relief to the publishing industry that pays the highest tax to the state government. In the future, funds will be needed to run the industry. - Pankaj Kumar Jain, President, Association of Children's Book Publishers

The electricity bill spoiled the system

Machines are closed in industrial units. Even after this, the basic electricity bill is more than 50 thousand rupees. Electricity bills worth lakhs of rupees are running on more than 250 entrepreneurs. - Ashu Rastogi, President, Printers Association

Major damage to the publishing industry

More than 1.5 lakh traders and workers have become unemployed. Businesses are closed due to a lack of demand. Entrepreneurs do not have options. The government will have to take relief measures to the industry. - Ajay Rastogi, MD, Chitra Publication

A forced change in work

Entrepreneurs working on one or two machines have no option left. Five entrepreneurs in the city have changed the trade. Machines have been sold. Some have even declared themselves bankrupt. - Tusshar Arora, MD, New King Offset Print