Inauguration of India National Stand at Frankfurt Book Fair 2026
On 8 October 2026, Kolkata‑based culturist Sundeep Bhutoria, Managing Trustee of the Prabha Khaitan Foundation, acted as Guest of Honour to inaugurate the India National Stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse) 2026. The ribbon‑cutting ceremony was conducted alongside Deepak Bansal, IFS Consul General of India, and Yuvraj Malik, Director of the National Book Trust (NBT).
Other dignitaries present included Claudia Kaiser, Vice President, Business Development Asia, Africa & Arab World at the Frankfurt Book Fair; Kumar Vikram, Chief Editor & Joint Director of NBT India; Hitendra Kumar Mishra, Director of the Central Hindi Directorate, Ministry of Education, Government of India; and Dr. Varun Gulati, Secretary of the Sahitya Akademi. Their collective participation underscored a coordinated institutional effort to promote Indian authors and languages on a global stage.
The India Pavilion at the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair is positioned as a landmark initiative that brings together India’s rich literary traditions, spanning timeless classics to contemporary voices across all Indian languages. The stand serves as a platform for publishers, rights professionals, and translators to explore licensing opportunities and to introduce Indian books to readers worldwide.
In his remarks, Bhutoria highlighted India’s “oldest and most diverse literary heritage” and asserted that the fair “is where books find new homes across borders,” emphasizing the privilege of presenting Indian literature to an international audience.
Under Bhutoria’s stewardship, the Prabha Khaitan Foundation has previously organized platforms that facilitate dialogue among authors, readers, and cultural stakeholders both within India and abroad. The Frankfurt Book Fair, described as the world’s largest trade fair for the publishing industry, functions as a key global marketplace for rights and licensing, and India’s participation, led by the National Book Trust, reaffirms the country’s expanding role in the international book market.
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