AP
New Delhi: Time Inc. plans to start an Indian edition of its Fortune magazine under a license deal with a local media company, according to an editor at the US-based business publication.
Under Indian laws, a foreign company has to form a joint venture with a local company or give a license to one to publish news in India.
Fortune plans to bring out an Indian edition through a licensed deal with a local publishing group, Robert Friedman, the magazine’s international editor, told The Associated Press.
Friedman didn’t name the Indian group. He said a formal announcement will be made closer to a business leaders’ conference which Fortune is hosting in New Delhi beginning 29October.
The Fortune Global Forum will be attended by Indian and international business executives and government officials, including US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
“We would like to use the global forum to help expand Fortune’s presence in India,” Friedman said. “We think we are under-leveraged in India.”
Currently, the magazine, published every two weeks, sells about 8,000 copies per issue in India. That number could increase 10 times with a local edition, Friedman said. Under a license deal, Fortune would get a royalty from the Indian partner.
Rapid globalization of the Indian economy and rising middle class incomes are driving demand for such products as Fortune, which caters to wealthier readers interested in international investments and personal finance. Several global media companies have entered India in recent years to seize the opportunity in this segment of readers with more money to spend on leisure and business reading.
New York-based Conde Nast Publications Inc. recently introduced a local edition of fashion and lifestyle magazine Vogue. Conde Nast also plans to bring Glamour, Vanity Fair and Traveler to India depending on the success of Vogue.
Magazines like Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Men’s Health, and Maxim are already being published through joint ventures. A local edition helps these magazines compete with their Indian rivals.
A copy of Fortune currently sells for Rs80, four times the price of an Indian business magazine.