Major international publishing houses are seeking to make India a hub attracted by skill of Indian printers, low production cost and world class editorial and production services.

An indication of this has been the book publishing landscape, which has changed dramatically in recent years, with major publishers preferring India to launch their new bestsellers.

"Significant improvements in the quality of printing and production, innovative ideas and skills of Indian printers and low production costs have made India an attractive location for investments by publishers from around the world," said Ajit Kumar, India's Consul General in in the ongoing Frankfurt Book Fair here.

Releasing the special edition of "India Perspectives" at the second day of the book fair, Kumar said, "The book publishing landscape in India has changed dramatically in recent years and the industry was quick to make use of the opportunities for improving the quality of production by inducting sophisticated technologies for printing and binding."

The special issue of the External Affairs Ministry's monthly publication "India Perspectives" is devoted to India's book publishing industry.

The October edition of the magazine, which is published in eleven foreign languages and four Indian languages, provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of book publishing in India by tracing the development of publishing in English and other languages during the past decades. The publication also contains articles by some of India's eminent authors on book publishing on subjects like fiction, politics, history, children's books, educational publications, humanities and social sciences, cookery, art and culture and the Indian cinema.

The current book fair at Frankfurt, which marks the 60th birthday of the world's largest exhibition of books and other publications, provided an ideal setting for releasing the magazine, Kumar said.

Around 50 publishers from all over India are presenting more than 3000 titles covering a wide spectrum of subjects including books on Indian art, culture and history, reference books, children's books, academic books as well as titles on humanities and social sciences, engineering, science and technology, medicine and information technology.

The idea of a special issue of "India Perspectives" was initiated by Amit Dasgupta, Joint Secretary in the Public Diplomacy Division of the External Affairs Ministry and its release at the book fair was organized jointly by the ministry and the Consulate General of India in Frankfurt, Kumar said.

India is the only country to be bestowed with the honour of becoming the "guest of honour nation" twice (in 1986 and 2006) in the history of the book fair.