Pune Book Festival 2025 Inaugurated as Govt Pushes for Pune as Book Capital

Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Shivajinagar, 13th December 2025: With growing footfalls, soaring book sales, and increasing national attention, the Pune Book Festival is steadily evolving into a major cultural movement. Riding on this momentum, Maharashtra’s Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil on Saturday said the state government would make concerted efforts to position Pune as a “book capital” in the coming years, with plans underway to scale the event into a global book festival from next year.

Patil was speaking at the inauguration of the third Pune Book Festival, organised by the National Book Trust at Fergusson College. The event was attended by Union Minister of State for Cooperation Muralidhar Mohol, Vice-Chancellor of Savitribai Phule Pune University Suresh Gosavi, president of the 99th All India Marathi Literary Conference and noted author Vishwas Patil, National Book Trust chairman Milind Marathe, chief convener of the festival Rajesh Pande, Deccan Education Society president Pramod Rawat, along with several eminent writers, academicians, students and citizens.

Highlighting the festival’s rapid growth, Chandrakant Patil said book sales had touched around ₹11 crore in the inaugural year and surged to nearly ₹40 crore in the second edition. He noted that Pune Book Festival has already become part of global book-related initiatives being evaluated by UNESCO.

“If Pune is recognised as a global book city, the Pune Book Festival will be organised next year on an international scale, bringing publishers, authors and readers from across the world to the city,” Patil said, urging citizens to actively participate and support the initiative.

He also stressed that the joy of reading physical books remains irreplaceable, even in the age of digital reading. Emphasising pride in the Marathi language, Patil pointed out that nearly 12 crore people speak Marathi across the country. He appealed to citizens to read Marathi literature, watch Marathi theatre and cinema, and listen to Marathi music to strengthen the language and its cultural roots.

Union Minister Muralidhar Mohol said the Pune Book Festival had outgrown the definition of a conventional book fair. “With record-breaking attendance, remarkable book sales, meaningful literary discussions and several world records in the past two years, the festival has emerged as a celebration of Indian thought, dialogue and culture,” he said.

Mohol added that the availability of books in multiple Indian and international languages has reinforced Pune’s reputation as a benchmark city for literature, art and culture. According to him, the festival has played a key role in nurturing reading habits across age groups, preserving classical Marathi and other Indian languages, and providing a platform for emerging writers.

Expressing optimism, Mohol said the festival would encourage translation across Indian languages, promote intellectual exchange among writers, and help Indian literature reach global audiences. He also stated that efforts would be made to organise the Pune Book Festival next year on the lines of major international book festivals, including the one held in Delhi.

Author Vishwas Patil said the Pune Book Festival has been modelled on established festivals such as those in Delhi and Kolkata. He congratulated the organisers and said the initiative would significantly contribute to Pune’s aspiration of becoming a book capital.

फर्ग्युसन महाविद्यालय येथे १३ ते २१ डिसेंबरदरम्यान आयोजित पुणे पुस्तक महोत्सवाचे उद्घाटन

The festival features more than 750 book stalls. National Book Trust chairman Milind Marathe said prominent writers and artists would participate in the Pune Literature Festival, adding that similar book festivals have already been organised in Nagpur and will soon be held in Goa. “Our aim is to ensure that the movement to promote reading culture continues without interruption,” he said.

Chief convener Rajesh Pande described the Pune Book Festival as a “festival of the people”. While Pune is widely known as a cultural capital, he said focused efforts are now being made to establish it as a global book capital. He also announced that the Pune Literature Festival will be held from December 16, featuring over 150 well-known personalities from various fields.

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During the event, Vishwas Patil’s novel Lust for Mumbai was unveiled. Following the inauguration, dignitaries toured the festival grounds, interacting with publishers and exploring a wide range of books across genres and languages.