New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS): The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Sunday said it would advocate grant of industry status to the publishing sector.

"FICCI to take up the case of the publishing sector for grant of industry status," the industry chamber said in a press release following a programme organised here by it in association with the National Book Trust (NBT) to facilitate greater interaction within the publishing community and establish a forum of CEOs to discuss and share business and book-trade related issues.

The programme was initiated last year as a part of the New Delhi Book Fair, the latest edition of which got underway Saturday.

Inaugurating the CEOs event, Narendra Jadhav, Planning Commission member, said the way forward for the sector is to get organized, seek industry status and actively collaborate with the higher education institutes. India has the advantage of the demographic dividend, he added.

Reliance Industries president and CEO Vivek Lall said the sector must strive to get the industry status, which will enable it get corporate loans at low interest.

He added that Ficci had lobbied for the entertainment industry, including films, to get industry status in 2000 and should take up the case of the publishing sector too.

NBT chairman A. Sethumadhavan emphasised that India has no dearth of good content.

"We have a flourishing publishing industry with literature in vernacular languages adding to the richness and depth of scholarship in India," he said.