NEW DELHI (AP) -- Time Inc. plans to start an Indian edition of its Fortune magazine under a licensing deal with a local media company, an editor at the U.S.-based business publication said Friday.
Under Indian laws, a foreign company has to form a joint venture with a local company or give a license to one to publish news in India.
Fortune plans to bring out an Indian edition through a licensing deal with a local publishing group, Robert Friedman, the magazine's international editor, told The Associated Press.
Friedman didn't name the Indian group. He said a formal announcement will likely be made closer to a business leaders' conference Fortune is hosting in New Delhi beginning Oct. 29.
That meeting -- the Fortune Global Forum -- will be attended by Indian and international business executives and government officials, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
"We would like to use the global forum to help expand Fortune's presence in India," Friedman said. "We think we are under-leveraged in India."
Currently, the magazine, published every two weeks, sells about 8,000 copies per issue in India. That number could increase 10 times with a local edition, Friedman said. Under a licensing deal, Fortune would get a royalty from its Indian partner.
Rapid globalization of the Indian economy and rising middle class incomes are driving demand for such publications as Fortune, which caters to wealthier readers interested in international investments and personal finance. Several global media companies have entered India in recent years to seize the opportunity in this segment of readers with more money to spend on leisure and business reading.
New York-based Conde Nast Publications Inc. recently introduced a local edition of fashion and lifestyle magazine Vogue. Conde Nast also plans to bring Glamour, Vanity Fair and Traveler to India depending on the success of Vogue.
Magazines like Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Men's Health and Maxim are already being published through joint ventures. A local edition helps these magazines compete with their Indian rivals.
A copy of Fortune currently sells for 80 rupees (US$2), four times the price of an Indian business magazine.
