April 1st, 2006 - Indian newspaper publisher, Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. has invested in ten new Goss presses to keep up with growing demand for color advertising and high sales of its newspaper titles in southern India. The company, which installed a 4x1 Goss Uniliner ‘S’ press in 2005 is currently installing two more Uniliner ‘S’ presses and two Community presses. Goss will then ship three additional Uniliner ‘S’ and Community systems later this year. Demand for the publisher’s key daily broadsheet title, The Deccan Chronicle, has increased by more than 600 percent in the last few years making it the fourth largest selling English paper in India. Between The Deccan Chronicle and The Asian Age, the publisher now produces 800,000 newspapers daily in India. Venkattaram Reddy, chairman of Deccan Chronicle Holdings explains, “Deccan Chronicle’s fast growing circulation and the increased demand for full-color advertising in India prompted this significant investment. We were looking for greater productivity and higher quality color print to satisfy our readers and our advertisers.” Reddy continues, “The various automation features offered by the presses have significantly increased our productivity and made the print process more efficient. This is an important benefit as it allows us to keep newspaper cover prices down for our readers despite the general rise in the cost of newsprint in India.” The Chronicle’s expansion since last April to Chennai, the country’s fourth largest city, was underpinned by the installation of the Goss Uniliner ‘S’ press. “We are number one in Chennai now – that’s why we are buying a second press for this facility,” confirms Reddy. Deccan Chronicle’s 4x1 Uniliner ‘S’ presses, will be configured for straight only newspaper production, with the ability to print both broadsheet and tabloid formats. Motorized inking, circumferential and lateral register controls and Goss OPCS press controls will deliver high automation for high-speed, high productivity runs of up to 75,000 copies per hour. Four Uniliner ‘S’ presses and five Community presses will be installed in 2006 to print regional versions of The Deccan Chronicle and recently acquired English language publication, The Asian Age. Mr Reddy is looking to develop further into the south Indian market, with the aim of increasing circulation of both titles in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Mumbai to build on current success and benefit from growth in the color advertising market. “When I started working in newspapers in 1979 this was more of a local newspaper covering local events,” Reddy explains. “Today we have an international outlook. Now we print from eight other remote centers with six more in the pipeline. We have done something very unique which most newspapers can’t even understand. We have used the strength of each of our offices to create certain pages of the newspaper. The political pages are made in Delhi. The business pages are made in Mumbai. The sports pages are made in Chennai. The features are made in Hyderabad.” Reddy is clear as to why Deccan Chronicle Holdings has been successful. “The company’s doing well because we are market leaders wherever we are and advertisers get value for money,” he says. “We have the lowest advertising rates compared with newspapers with the same circulation.” Peter Kirwan, Goss vice president of Asia Pacific Sales concludes, “We are working closely with Mr Reddy and Deccan Chronicle Holdings, to deliver equipment that meets their exact specification in the shortest possible time frame. Installation in 2006 will mean that the company can quickly make the most of its increased capacity. The Uniliner ‘S’ and Community presses are both flexible press lines offering great print quality and high automation which will help to secure the future long-term growth of the company in the fast moving Indian newspaper market.”