Dainik Bhaskar launches seventh edition of Divya Marathi

The edition has been launched from Amravati in Maharashtra.

After editions in Akola, Solapur, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Nashik and Aurangabad, Dainik Bhaskar has launched the seventh edition of its Marathi daily, Divya Marathi, from Amravati in Maharashtra.

The news paper will have around 18 pages. Priced as Rs 3, the daily has been launched with an initial print run of 30,000 copies. It is also offering an annual subscription scheme of Rs 820, wherein the reader will have to pay Rs 99 upfront and Rs 60 per month.

Divya Marathi will compete with dailies like Lokmat and Sakal that already have a strong presence in the region. Initially, the Amravati edition will have 80 per cent content and 20 per cent advertising, which may go up to 30-32 per cent advertising in the future.

Kumar Ketkar is the state chief editor and Abhilash Khandekar is the state editor for Divya Marathi, while Nishit Jain heads the sales and marketing teams.

The new edition will be printed in Akola district and have a dedicated page, Divya Amravati, for the city news. It will also have free supplements such as Rasik and Madhurima, to be rolled out every Wednesday and Sunday, respectively.

In an official communiqué, Sudhir Agarwal, managing director, DB Corp Limited, says, "In line with our launch strategy which we adapted to the Amravati market, we focussed on expanding the readership base, which is significantly under penetrated in the region. The region has a high literacy rate of over 93 per cent and a rapidly developing workforce supported by a growing and active business environment comprising large markets and retail formats, factories, hospitals, educational institutes, banks, telecom providers and is a business centre to some of India's most reputed companies. Our study of Amravati reveals a significant potential for DBCL to participate as a growth partner and play a dynamic role to propel Amravati's socio-economic progress."

DB Corp claims that the paper will be the first unbiased and non-political newspaper, according to the wishes of the people as revealed by its pre launch survey carried out in the region, wherein 92 per cent of the people wished for such a newspaper.

To create buzz around the Amravati edition, DB Corp had put up hoardings, organised vehicle rallies, and distributed brochures and leaflets across the city.

Amravati is the second largest city of the Vidarbha region, after Nagpur, and over time has emerged as the second most prominent education centre of Maharashtra, after Pune.

With this launch, DB Corp has expanded its presence to seven cities in Maharashtra. Altogether, it publishes eight newspapers with 66 editions, 199 sub-editions in four multiple languages (Hindi, Gujarati, English and Marathi) across 13 states in the country.