New Delhi June 28 (IANS) Leading publisher Penguin Random House India has acquired Hind Pocket Books one of the oldest and most respected Hindi language publishers in the country.
The announcement to this effect was made on Thursday by the publisher which asserted that the acquisition will build further on its presence in local language publishing.
Vaishali Mathur previously responsible for Indian Language Publishing and Rights at Penguin Random House India will be the Editor-in-Chief of Hind Pocket Books and will continue to build on her English language publishing programme.
Established in 1958 Hind Pocket Books is widely considered the pioneer in publishing Hindi and Urdu paperbacks in India and has an impressive list of critically acclaimed and commercially successful titles to its credit.
Hind Pocket Books has published some of the most renowned authors from the subcontinent and across the world including Amrita Pritam Shivani Acharya Chatursen Gulshan Nanda Narendra Kohli Khushwant Singh R.K. Narayan Dr Radhakrishnan Dominique Lapierre Osho Thich Nhat Hanh Ruzbeh Bharucha and Wayne Dyer.
The books published by Hind Pocket Books have won prestigious awards including the Nobel Prize Sahitya Akademi Awards and the Jnanpith Award.
"We are thrilled to welcome Hind Pocket Books to the Penguin Random House global family of publishers. Our operations in India have been a success story for us. This acquisition represents our commitment to expand our local-language publishing as we continue to implement our global strategy of growing in key markets such as India " Markus Dohle Chief Executive Officer Penguin Random House said.
Penguin began its Hindi publishing programme in India in 2005 and has built a significant catalogue of acclaimed titles over the years. It also translates a vast body of work from other Indian languages into English.
Nandan Jha Senior Vice President Penguin Random House India will in his expanded role take on the added portfolio of building the Indian language publishing programme in addition to heading sales and product for the company.

--IANS ss/tsb/bg