Amar Ujala

About Amar Ujala

Amar Ujala is a leading Hindi-language daily newspaper of northern India, founded in Agra in 1948 by Murari Lal Maheshwari and Dori Lal Agarwal with the objective of promoting social awakening and responsibility in a newly independent India. From its headquarters in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, it publishes 22 editions across six states and two union territories covering 180 districts, with a circulation of around two million copies and a readership of 9.65 million that made it the fourth most-read daily in India in the 2019 Indian Readership Survey. Owned by Amar Ujala Limited and led by Rajul Maheshwari and Sneh Maheshwari, it is the undisputed leader in the Himalayan belt, ranked number one in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and number two in Uttar Pradesh.

The name Amar Ujala translates as “the immortal brightness,” and the paper has lived up to it through more than seven decades of continuous publication. Beginning as a four-page newspaper with a circulation of 2,576 copies in Agra, it grew into one of India's top Hindi dailies by the turn of the century, and its digital arm, amarujala.com, is now one of the leading Hindi news websites in the country with more than 60 million users. In 2022 it was named Newspaper of the Year at the afaqs Media Brand Awards.

Founding in Agra, 1948

Amar Ujala was launched on 18 April 1948 in Agra, a year after India's independence, by the late Shri Dori Lal Agarwal and the late Shri Murari Lal Maheshwari. The founders set out with the explicit objective of promoting social awakening and introducing a feeling of responsibility among the citizens of a newly independent nation heading towards building a new India. The first issue was a four-page newspaper with a circulation of just 2,576 copies, serving the city of Agra.

In its early years the paper focused on political and social issues and crime stories, establishing a reputation for serious local journalism in western Uttar Pradesh. Twenty years after its founding, the newspaper had grown to a circulation of 20,000, serving more than 14 districts in the region, a steady expansion built on reader trust rather than corporate capital.

Expansion Across North India

Over the decades Amar Ujala expanded steadily across northern India, and today it publishes 22 editions in six states, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi NCR, and two union territories, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir, covering 180 districts. Its editions are published from cities including Agra, Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Noida, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Dehradun, among others.

The paper's geography defines its identity: it is the newspaper of the Hindi heartland's northern tier and the Himalayan states, regions where its deep local reporting gives it an edge over Delhi-centric national dailies. In 1994, Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran together shared nearly 70 per cent of the Hindi newspaper readership in Uttar Pradesh, with Amar Ujala selling 4.5 lakh copies through its five editions, a duopoly that shaped the state's media landscape for a generation.

Ownership and Corporate Structure

Amar Ujala is published by Amar Ujala Limited, previously known as Amar Ujala Publications Limited, a privately held company headquartered at C-21 and C-22, Sector 59, Noida. The company is owned by Rajul Maheshwari and Sneh Maheshwari of the founding families, and remains one of the few large Indian newspaper groups still in private family ownership rather than listed on the stock exchanges.

The company employs several thousand people across its printing centres, editorial bureaus and branch offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Jaipur, Patna, Ranchi, Pune, Hyderabad and Nagpur. Its printing centres are connected by modern technology to speed news dissemination, and the paper holds memberships with international news agencies AFP and AP, bringing the latest photographs and wire reporting into every edition.

Circulation and Readership

Amar Ujala has a daily circulation of around two million copies, with the Audit Bureau of Circulations recording 1,744,512 copies as of April 2023. The 2019 Indian Readership Survey reported a readership of 9.65 million, making it the fourth most-read daily newspaper in India. The company's own figures have cited a combined daily readership of over 4.7 crore across all editions in survey rounds, and the paper's draft prospectus for a proposed public issue in the mid-2010s estimated a combined readership of 30.13 million with average daily circulation of about 1.95 million copies.

The paper is ranked number one in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and number two in Uttar Pradesh, a regional dominance that makes it the most-read Hindi daily in north India. Its readership spans the socio-economic spectrum, from rural households in the Himalayan belt to urban professionals in Delhi NCR.

Editorial Character and Content

Amar Ujala publishes a 16- to 18-page daily issue with extensive colour pages in every edition, along with supplements focusing on careers, lifestyle, entertainment and women. Its journalism covers local, national and international news alongside sports, business, education, technology, automobiles, astrology, health and fitness, fashion, women's issues, spirituality and Bollywood, offering the wide-ranging content mix expected of a mass-circulation Hindi daily.

The paper's strength lies in its consistent and superior editorial coverage with a clear focus on local issues across its 180 districts of operation, supplemented by state, national and international news. Its ground reporting, video journalism and emphasis on credible news have sustained reader loyalty through the digital transition.

Digital Presence: Amarujala.com

Amarujala.com is one of the leading Hindi news websites in India, catering to more than 60 million users across the country. As of late 2022, the website had 8.4 million followers on Facebook and 3.89 million subscribers on YouTube, with the app and website together reaching over 50 million unique worldwide visitors and generating more than 150 million video views a month. The digital operation publishes news, video and ground reports around the clock, extending the brand far beyond its print footprint.

The group also owns and manages MyResultPlus, an education results portal operated by Amar Ujala Web Services Pvt Ltd, and publishes Safalta, a niche monthly magazine providing study material for civil services and other competitive examinations, reflecting the paper's deep connection with the student and aspirant readership of the Hindi belt.

Social Initiatives

In 2015, the newspaper's managing director Rajul Maheshwari announced the company's entry into the rural events and activation market, declaring that “Amar Ujala is not just a newspaper. It is also a change agent.” The initiative organizes events in small towns bringing together participants in the local rural economy with agriculture-based businesses and government agencies, extending the brand's civic role beyond the printed page.

This philosophy of the newspaper as a social institution reflects the founders' original mission of social awakening, adapted to a 21st-century media company. The paper's awards and recognition, including the Newspaper of the Year title at the 2022 afaqs Media Brand Awards, testify to its standing in the industry.

Standing in the Hindi Press

In the hierarchy of the Hindi press, Amar Ujala stands just below the two giants, Dainik Jagran and Dainik Bhaskar, and above Hindustan of the HT Media group in much of its territory. Its regional strongholds in the hill states and western Uttar Pradesh give it a defensible niche that the national dailies have found difficult to penetrate. As the most-read Hindi daily in north India, it remains a bellwether for the tastes and concerns of the Hindi heartland's readers.