Business Wire India
Association of Publishers in India announced the election of a new executive committee in its Annual General Meeting held on October 17, 2018. Nitasha Devasar, Managing Director, Taylor & Francis India has been elected as President by majority votes and will now lead the charge of communicating industry opportunities and concerns to relevant stakeholders on a global level.

The executive committee includes representation from top publishing houses in the industry. Neeraj Jain, Managing Director - Scholastic India takes charge as the Vice President and Harish Doraiswamy, Vice President – Qualifications, Schools & Vocational, Pearson India has joined as the General Secretary. Aparna Sharma, Managing Director – DK India and Nachiket Mohagaonkar, Chief Operating Officer - Cambridge University Press have been elected as Joint Secretary and Treasurer, respectively.

Speaking on the occasion, Nitasha Devasar, President - Association of Publishers in India said, “Building on momentum created so far, we hope to build a broader consensus around our shared purpose as an industry. The value proposition of Indian publishing, which is among the largest in the world, for quality education, employability and a growing nation, needs to be highlighted.”

In the new role, the committee members will work cohesively with regulatory bodies, industry organizations and global associations to put Indian publishing on the international map. It will also focus on the educational and employability prospects of the industry to sustain and amplify the value proposition of publishing in India.

Association of Publishers in India - Executive Committee

Nitasha Devasar – President

Nitasha Devasar is Managing Director, Taylor & Francis, India and South Asia. She has 25 years of experience in academic publishing and a keen understanding of the dynamic South Asian academic publishing marketplace. Nitasha is Adviser with the Women Leadership Forum of Asia and was lauded as Channel News Asia's Women of Substance in Asia in 2017. Her edited book on Indian publishing Publishers on Publishing: Inside India's Book Business, has recently been published.

Neeraj Jain – Vice President

Born and brought up in Delhi, Neeraj has a keen interest in sports and Music. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in commerce from Hansraj College, University of Delhi, chartered Accountancy from Institute of Chartered Accountancy in India, CMA and CFM from Institute of Management Accountants, USA and Executive MBA from ISB, Hyderabad. While doing his Executive MBA he attended programs in FDC Brazil, Kellogg School of Management and Wharton Business School in USA.

Harish Doraiswamy – General Secretary

Harish Doraiswamy is Vice President-Qualifications, Schools and Vocational, South Asia at Pearson. Harish has been with Pearson for over 4 years and in the education sector for over a decade. His experience spans multiple sectors, geographies and functions. He was Treasurer of the API during 2017-18. Harish is based out of New Delhi, India.

Aparna Sharma – Joint Secretary

Aparna Sharma is the Managing Director of DK India. Her mission over the last decade has been to make the India operations an integral part of DK worldwide. In her words, "My vision was to make these ground-breaking titles accessible in India and break the perception of DK being a west centric content creator." Aparna joined DK almost 19 years ago, prior to which she ran her own communication design and multimedia company.

Nachiket Mohagaonkar – Treasurer

Nachiket is a Senior Finance professional with overall 20+ years of rich & varied business experience with diverse industries like Publishing, Media & Communications, Marketing Services, Events/ Exhibitions, Retail/FMCG/Direct Marketing, Telecom, Print Media and Manufacturing with 10+ years in leadership positions as a member of Board of Directors/Executive Committee member. Currently, Nachiket is working as Chief Operating Officer (COO) & Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with Cambridge University Press India with overall South Asia Branch P&L responsibility.
About API

The Association of Publishers in India is a trade organization that stands for the promotion & advancement of publishers in India as well as protect the common interest of members and professionals engaged in global publishing. It is also engaged in market research & compiling market statistics and runs several industry-specific events and seminars. A premiere industry body, it leads the advocacy efforts on behalf of the entire publishing industry.