EDITOR - PAWAN KUMAR GUPTA
NEW DELHI
India Stage Debuts at Frankfurt Book Fair 2025; 17 NBT Titles Launched in German
India Unveils 17 German Translations and a Dedicated ‘India Stage’ at the 77th Frankfurt Book Fair
New Delhi, 15 October 2025: India making a vibrant mark at the 77th Frankfurt Book Fair (15–19 October 2025) with a grand showcase of its linguistic, literary, and publishing diversity. Under the theme “Read and Explore India – पढ़ें और जानें भारत – Lies und Entdecke Indien!”, the India National Stand, curated by the National Book Trust, India (Ministry of Education) in collaboration with the Consulate General of India, Frankfurt, featured for the first time an exclusive ‘India Stage’, creating a platform for Indian and international thought leaders and industry experts to exchange ideas and explore avenues to strengthen the culture and business of reading.
The India National Stand and India Stage was inaugurated by the Consul General of India in Frankfurt, Ms. Suchita Kishore, on 15 October 2025, in the presence of the Chairman of the National Book Trust, India, Mr. Milind Sudhakar Marathe, along with other distinguished Indian and international guests. A highlight of the event was the launch of 17 Indian children’s books in German, translated from works by eminent Indian authors, marking a significant step in bringing Indian storytelling to European readers.
The Consul General, Smt. Suchita Kishore, highlighted the visible prominence of Brand India through the India National Stand at the world’s largest trade book fair. She emphasized that the books translated into German and launched at the fair would be particularly beneficial for children of the Indian diaspora community.
Prof. Milind Sudhakar Marathe, Chairman of the NBT, India, stated that, as the national body for book publishing and promotion, NBT had brought together both public and private sector publishers to present a comprehensive showcase of the Indian book industry.
Shri Kumar Vikram, Chief Editor and Joint Director of NBT India, provided an overview of the various international publishing dialogues being held at the India Stage, which was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2025.
The participation of national bodies as well as private publishing entities under the single umbrella of a National Stand emphasised the Whole-of-Government approach in projecting Brand India at such a prestigious trade-oriented international platform, first conceptualised by the Ministry of Education in 2023, with the National Book Trust, India, serving as the implementing agency and Nodal Agency for the Promotion of Indian Books Abroad under the Book Promotion Division, Ministry of Education.
Drawing inspiration from the Mithila art of Bihar, the India Stand’s mascot, designed and conceptualised by the National Institute of Design (NID), highlighted linguistic diversity, family reading together, and wove India’s literary diversity with the symbol of the peacock, India’s national bird, whose colours represent the infinite shades of imagination, knowledge, and emotions found within India’s stories.
Twelve leading publishers are participating in person at the India National Stand, while works from more than 90 publishers, including Bloomsbury, Parragon Publishing India Pvt Ltd, AITBS Publishers India, Shroff Publishers & Distributors Pvt. Ltd., Indian Council of Social Science Research, National Council of Promotion of Urdu Language, Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Central Hindi Directorate, Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Lok Sabha Secretariat, PHI Learning Private Limited, IndiePress, Fingerprint! Publishing, Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, Rupa Publications, Pinwheel Publications, Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House, Universal Publishing, Optique Sutra, and others, are being featured through a Collective Exhibit of Books from India, offering international audiences a panoramic view of India’s publishing landscape.
To further strengthen international collaborations, a Rights Catalogue of Books from India, featuring nearly 250 titles from over 90 publishers, is being released to facilitate copyright trade and translation opportunities. The catalogue includes works in a variety of Indian languages, such as Asamiya, Bangla, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Odia, Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam, among others.
India Stage Hosts Global Dialogue
The newly introduced India Stage hosts a series of dialogues between India and the EU, Greece, the Philippines, Algeria, and Colombia, aimed at promoting the culture of reading globally. Notably, the India-Philippines Dialogue holds special significance, as the Philippines is the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2025. German scholars such as Dr. Roman Maisch, Dr. med. Mathias Kossatz, and Mr. Victor Gatys deliver presentations on different aspects of the Indian Knowledge System, including Yoga, Ayurveda, and Vastu Shastra.
These discussions will witness an extraordinary gathering of eminent voices from across the world, representing literature, publishing, design, culture and academia. Among the distinguished speakers is Richard Charkin, a veteran British publishing executive with decades of leadership at Bloomsbury, Macmillan, and Oxford University Press, Argyris Kastaniotis, Director General of Kastaniotis Editions, Michalis Kalamaras, a leading Greek publishing consultant along with Guatemalan-American author and translator David Unger.
The India-EU Dialogue features Valentina Stoeva, Chair of EURead, the European network promoting reading across Europe, and Daan Beeke, Network Manager at EURead, focusing on school libraries and lifelong reading habits.
From India, JNU educator and Member-Secretary, ICSSR, Dhananjay Singh contributed academic insights, joined by Payal Puri, former Editor of Cosmopolitan, and literary experts Kartik Raj Kushvah, Himanshu Chawla, C. M. Gosain, and Kumar Vikram, Chief Editor & Joint Director, NBT-India. Other participants included R. Chandrasekaran, Director of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Ministry of Education, and Subrahmanian Seshadri, Member, Educational Publishers Forum of the International Publishers Association, who has held leadership roles at Oxford University Press India and Dorling Kindersley India.
Furthermore, scholars such as Adele Hennig-Tembe, Sabine Müller, Thomas Vogel, Sahib Kapoor, and Jayashree Hari Joshi have translated 17 popular children’s books into German. Sabine Müller and Thomas Vogel will participate in a panel discussion titled “Cultural Communication among Children through Translations.”
Together, these speakers embody the spirit of the India National Stand, uniting creativity and cross-cultural collaboration. Over five days, the India National Stand functions as a dynamic platform for literary, cultural, and intellectual exchange, featuring distinguished authors, translators, publishers, and thought leaders from India and across the world.
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