Penguin Random House India is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, a leading global publishing company. Penguin Random House was formed in 2013 after the merger between Penguin and Random House. As part of the global merger, Penguin Books India and Random House India came together to form Penguin Random House India. Bertelsmann became the sole owner of Penguin Random House in 2020. With a commitment to publishing quality literature across various genres, Penguin Random House India publishes in both English and Hindi and partners with regional publishing houses to publish across various Indian languages including Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Gujarati, and Kannada.
We have published books by both well-known and emerging authors from India and abroad, such as Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Arundhati Roy, Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murty, Durjoy Datta, (Late) Khushwant Singh, Former President of India (Late) APJ Abdul Kalam, Upmanyu Chatterjee, the Satyajit Ray Library, Hussain Zaidi, Ravinder Singh, Sudeep Nagarkar, Novoneel Chakraborty, Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra Modi, Krishna Udayshankar, Saurabh Mukherjea, Prakash Iyer, R. Gopalakrishnan, Harish Bhat, Sadhguru, and Gaur Gopal Das, among others. Apart from publishing, Penguin Random House India promotes reading and literacy in the country and the sub-continent through various literary events, book launches, and participation in book fairs.
Since its inception in 1985 in India, Penguin Random House India has grown to be one of the most recognised names in the industry. We have an active backlist of over 3000 titles and release around 300 new titles every year, ranging from modern fiction to narrative non-fiction, including biography, travel, business, politics, history, religion, philosophy, lifestyle, cookery, health, fitness, sports, and leisure, as well as illustrated and children’s books from India and across the sub-continent. We have a portfolio of authors who have won major literary prizes, including the Booker Prize, the International Booker Prize, the Nobel Prize, the Magsaysay Award, the Jnanpith Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, and more.
Penguin Random House India publishes books across various genres, including literary fiction, romance, thrillers, fantasy, memoirs, biography, self-help, mind, body, and spirit, historical non-fiction, politics, creative non-fiction, health and wellness, children’s literature, young adult fiction, and non-fiction. We have a rich collection of audiobooks and e-books, and many of our stories have been adapted into films and web series.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Gaurav Shrinagesh (CEO, Penguin Random House India)
Gaurav Shrinagesh is the CEO of Penguin Random House India & SEA and serves on the Global Executive Committee for Penguin Random House. Gaurav is also a founding member on the Board of Directors at the Sharjah Book Authority.
Gaurav is an entrepreneurial leader with over two decades of experience in global markets addressing strategic growth, digital transformation and market engagement. Able to innovate in markets, Gaurav has spearheaded the progress of Penguin Random House in India, South East Asia & more recently the Middle East by acquiring authors and books across a diverse range of voices, publishing some of the most eminent writers in the regions, leading innovation and putting in efficiencies that have enabled the company to become the industry leader in these markets. As a member of the Sharjah Book Authority board, he supports the SBA’s mission to transform the world through the power of the written word.
Before taking over as CEO in July 2013, Gaurav was the Managing Director at Random House India and was responsible for all of the company’s publishing and distribution businesses including the management of the sales, operations, services and people functions. Gaurav joined Bertelsmann in the prestigious Bertelsmann Entrepreneur Program in 1999 and has since held a range of senior strategic and operational roles across continents.
Born in India, Gaurav was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics & Statistics from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai and an MBA from the Melbourne Business School at the University of Melbourne.
Aditi Kumar (Senior Vice President, People, and Innovation)
Aditi Kumar joined Penguin in 2012 as Head of People at Penguin Books India and took on the role of Head of People Team across Penguin Random House India, post-merger in 2013. Additionally, Aditi also leads CSR and internal compliance at the publishing house. She set up the HR function for Penguin India by streamlining and initiating several key HR systems and processes. She has been instrumental in driving a diverse and inclusive environment at work and reinforcing sustainable efforts within the company workforce. She has more than a decade of experience in HR functions including performance management, talent development, HR operations, reward, and recognition.
Milee Aishwarya (Publisher, Adult Publishing)
Milee Ashwarya is the Publisher of the Adult Publishing Group at Penguin Random House India. During her career, she has published a range of bestsellers across genres. An award-winning publisher, her focus has been on championing diverse voices, discovering talented debut writers, and building on the inclusive programme at Penguin Random House India.
Sanjiv Gupta (COO, Penguin India)
As the COO at Penguin, Sanjiv Gupta leads the finance and operations portfolio and drives the strategic direction for the finance, customer service, production, and IT divisions. Sanjiv joined Penguin in 2011 as Finance Director and has over twenty-eight years of experience in industries as varied as automobiles, aerospace, electronics, agriculture, real estate fund and business process outsourcing.
During his tenure at Penguin, he successfully merged operations of Penguin and Random House, acquisition of Hind Pocket Books and Duckbill, the first publishing houses in the country to publish books on FSC certified paper and successfully took over management of warehouse operations. With a vision to impact the quality, efficiency, and delivery of books, he was instrumental in the acquisition and set up of Penguin’s state of the art warehouse, one of the largest in the business, making Penguin the only international trade publisher in the country with its warehousing capabilities.
Sohini Mitra (Publisher, Children and YA)
With close to 17 years in book publishing, Sohini has been with Penguin for nearly 15 years. An expert in creating books and content for children and young adults, Sohini oversees and heads PRH’s Children and YA list. Working with a team of commissioning editors, she has built a programme that fits consumer and industry trends, as well as reading habits, triggered by a passion for creating a diverse frontlist and a rich backlist that will continue to be loved by readers for years to come. She has collaborated with some of the most renowned names when it comes to children’s content– Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murty, late Dr Kalam, Subhadra Sen Gupta, Devdutt Pattanaik, Namita Gokhale, Anita Nair, Paro Anand, Deepak Dalal, among many others. She has also been instrumental in launching debut and brilliant new voices in the children’s publishing space like Payal Kapadia, Nayanika Mahtani, Ami Majmudar, to name a few.
Books acquired and published by her have won many illustrious awards such as the Crossword Award for Children’s Literature, Comic-Con Award, The Hindu-Goodbooks Award, Publishing Next Award, Parag Honour Books, Neev Book Awards, and South Asia Book Awards, to name a few.
Vaishali Mathur (Publisher, Indian Languages)
To highlight literature in regional Indian languages, Vaishali Mathur oversees Penguin Swadesh, the Indian Language Publishing at Penguin, with a significant focus on Hindi language books and authors. With Penguin bringing Hind Pocket Books into its folds, Vaishali has reinforced Penguin’s presence in Hindi publishing by acquiring and publishing works by award-winning, celebrated and popular writers such as Narendra Kohli, Upendra Nath Ashk, Sumitra Nandan Pant, Surendra Mohan Pathak, Dutt Bharati, Ved Prakash and others. In this role, she looks after the complete publishing programme including translations, marketing/publicity and sales, coordinates with agencies, and buys and sells rights across the world for Penguin’s books in Indian languages.
Additionally, she continues to build and add commercial fiction and non-fiction for imprints like Penguin Metro Reads and Penguin Ananda.