Top Newspapers in India

Overall Rating: star ratingstar ratingstar ratingstar ratingstar rating[5/5]Total Votes [ 33 ]  
Rate this page:
A matter of pride for all Indians is that the country happens to be among the largest newspaper markets in the world. India is the largest newspaper publisher in the world with close to 6,700 publications and over 26 crore copies distributed per day. Newspapers in India, over the years, have almost become a habit for people. Early morning without a newspaper and a cup of tea is incomplete for most of the people in India, be it elderly, middle-aged or youth of the country.
Considered as one of the fastest developing countries today, India’s increased newspaper readership is the result of its growing literacy and introduction of some of the latest technologies. The four major global newspaper markets are China, selling approximately 118 million copies daily; Japan, churning out 72 million copies per day, followed by the U.S.A, printing 56 million copies daily, and India, selling nearly 30 million copies per day.

The FICCI EY Report on the Indian M&E industry 2021 discovered that ad revenue of Print media came down from INR 206 billion in 2019 to INR 122 billion in 2020. Due to the coronavirus induced lockdown, the newspapers suffered losses, and after it was lifted, the industry tried to recover from the fall.

The Top Newspaper Brands in India are Dainik Jagran (Hindi), Hindustan (Hindi) and Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi), The Times Of India (English). The sale of Indian newspapers has increased by manifolds over the last few years. It is said that out of the world’s 100 best-selling newspapers, 74 are published in Asia. As of March 31st, 2018, the total number of registered publications stands at 1,18,239 in India.

Following are the top newspapers:

Dainik Jagran (Hindi)

Founded by freedom fighter Puran Chandra Gupta during the 'Quit India Movement' in 1942, Hindi daily Dainik Jagran belongs to Jagran Prakash Limited and is distributed in 11 states of India. The head office of Dainik Jagran is situated in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. It is the most popular and most-read newspaper in India that contains all the latest news and updates across all domains. The Average Issue Readership (AIR) of Dainik Jagran is 1.66 crore.

Hindustan (Hindi)

The second most popular newspaper brand in India is Hindustan, a Hindi daily. It was started in 1936 by Hindustan Media Ventures Limited. It operates mainly in the Delhi NCR region, Chandigarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. The state of Uttar Pradesh is where Hindustan constitutes almost one-third of the readership and the state is also home to all five printing facilities. The AIR of Hindustan is over 1.47 crore.

Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi)

A Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar is one of the top most popular and most widely read newspapers in India. It was founded in 1958 and is owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. It enjoys readership in 11 Indian states. It is one of the rapidly growing newspaper dailies in India and has won several awards over the years. The AIR of Dainik Bhaskar is over 1.38 crore.

Malayala Manorama (Malayalam)

The most popular and most widely read newspaper daily in the southern part of India is Malayala Manorama, a Malayalam newspaper. It was started in 1980 by Malayala Manorama Company Limited of Kerala. As many as 15 printing units across the country belong to Malayalam Manorma. The AIR of Malayala Manorama is over 88 lakh.

Daily Thanthi (Tamil)

The second most popular newspaper of South India and the fifth most widely read newspaper of the country is Daily Thanthi, a Tamil language newspaper. S. P. Adithanar started this leading Tamil daily way back in 1942. Two supplements of Daily Thanthi are published every Sunday; namely, Kudumba Malar and Gnayiru Malar. The AIR of Daily Thanthi is over 82 lakh.

Rajasthan Patrika (Hindi)

Karpoor Chandra Kulish started Rajasthan Patrika in 1956, which is today one of the most popular Hindi newspapers in India. It is owned by Rajasthan Patrika Pvt. Ltd. Its readership has spread over more than 30 cities of eight Indian states but is most widely read in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The AIR of Rajasthan Patrika is over 79 lakh.

Amar Ujala (Hindi)

Another Hindi daily, Amar Ujala breaks into the list of top newspaper brands in India. It was founded a year after the independence of the country in 1948. Amar Ujala is owned by Amar Ujala Publications Ltd. Based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, it features news and updates from all domains including politics, business, sports and entertainment. The AIR of The Times of India is over 78 lakh.

The Times of India (English)

The Times of India is the largest selling English daily newspaper in India. It is a product of Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited, the flagship wing of India's largest media enterprise – The Times Group. The publication of The Times of India was started 177 years back in 1838. It is one of the oldest and most popular newspaper brands in India. Times Ascent, a supplement of the paper published every Wednesday, is the most widely read career-oriented paper. The AIR of The Times of India is over 75 lakh.

The Hindu (English)

It is one of the largest newspapers when it comes to readership. It was established in 1878 as a weekly, and in 1889, it became a daily. The Hindu Group owns the newspaper and its main office is located in Chennai. Its founder is G. Subramania Iyer and editor is Suresh Nambath.

Hindustan Times (English)

In 1924, Sunder Singh Lyallpuri set up the media house to endorse India’s freedom movement against British colonials. Lyallpuri was also the founder of India’s Akali movement.

Hindustan Times started its operations in New Delhi. Its offices are also based in Patna, Chandigarh, Ranchi, Lucknow and Kolkata.

Its sister newspapers are Mint, Hindustan Dainik.

Mathrubhumi (Malayalam)

Started in 1923, Mathrubhumi is one of the leading newspapers in India published in the Malayalam language. Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Company Limited is the owner of the Mathrubhumi newspaper headquartered in Kerala. Ten printing facilities across India print Mathrubhumi. The paper offers mobile apps for Android, iOS and Windows software operators. The AIR of Mathrubhumi is over 60 lakh.

Lokmat (Marathi)

The top Marathi language daily, Lokmat is also one of the top 10 newspaper brands in India. It is owned by Lokmat Media Private Limited based in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It publishes 11 editions in the state of its operations. The AIR of Lokmat is over 58 lakh.

Note: Average Issue Readership (AIR) of a publication is defined as the number of readers of that publication who have claimed to have last read it within its periodicity, i.e., last read a daily yesterday, a weekly within the last week, a monthly within the last month, etc. Last Updated on September 01, 2021