India is all set to make 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, will feature for the first time an exclusive ‘India Stage’ to create a platform for Indian and international thought leaders and industry experts to exchange ideas and find avenues to strengthen the creation of culture and business of reading.
The participation of national bodies as well as private publishing bodies under one umbrella of a National Stand emphasises 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 National Book Trust, India as the implementing agency and the Nodal Agency for 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), highlights linguistic diversity, family reading together and weaves together 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.
The India National Stand will be inaugurated by Consul General of India in Frankfurt, Ms. Suchita Kishore on 15 October 2025, in presence of Chairman of National Book Trust, India, Mr Milind Sudhakar Marathe along with other distinguished Indian and international guests.
A highlight of the event will be the launch of 17 Indian children’s books in German, translated from works by eminent Indian authors which will mark a major step in taking Indian storytelling to European readers.
Twelve leading publishers are participating in person at the India National Stand, while the works of more than 90 publishers. To further strengthen international collaborations, a Rights Catalogue of Books from India featuring nearly 250 titles from over 90 publishers will be released for copyright trade and translation opportunities including books in various Indian languages such as Asamiya, Bangla, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Odia, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam among others.
India Stage to Host Global Dialogue
The newly introduced India Stage will host 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 country is the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2025. The India–Colombia Meet will further strengthen publishing ties between the two nations. Talks on Ayurveda, Meditation, Vastu Vidhya, Indian knowledge system will also be delivered by eminent German scholars.
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 will feature Valentina Stoeva the Chair of EURead, the European network promoting reading across Europe and Daan Beeke, Network Manager at EURead, whose work focuses on school libraries and lifelong reading habits.
From India, JNU educator and Member-Secretary, ICSSR, Dhananjay Singh will lend academic depth to the discussions, joined by Payal Puri, former Editor of Cosmopolitan, and literary experts Kartik Raj Kushvah, Himanshu Chawla, C. M. Gosain and Chief Editor & Joint Director, NBT-India Kumar Vikram. Also participating are R. Chandrasekaran, Director of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Ministry of Education, and Subrahmanian Seshadri, Member, Educational Publishers Forum of 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. Among them, Sabine Müller and Thomas Vogel will participate in the panel discussion titled “Cultural Communication among Children through Translations”.
Together, these speakers embody the India National Stand’s spirit of dialogue which will unite creativity and cross-cultural collaboration. Over five days, the India National Stand will function as a dynamic platform for literary, cultural and intellectual exchange, featuring distinguished authors, translators, publishers and thought leaders from India and across the world.
