Over 4.71 lakh pirated copies of NCERT textbooks have been seized across India since 2024, union minister of state for education Jayant Chaudhary informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

In a written response, Chaudhary said that incidents of textbook piracy had been reported from various parts of the country, driven largely by the commercial interests of unscrupulous actors.

“The main objective of NCERT is to provide quality textbooks at affordable prices to every student across the country on a no-profit, no-loss basis,” he said.

Detailing the government’s crackdown, the Minister stated that NCERT conducted raids on 29 premises in the past year, targeting manufacturers and sellers of pirated textbooks as well as illegal producers of NCERT watermarked paper. These operations led to the seizure of stock and machinery worth over ₹20 crore.

To combat piracy, NCERT has implemented several preventive measures, including a 20% price cut on textbooks, timely printing, improved quality using modern printing machines, and promoting online sales via e-commerce platforms.

Additionally, a pilot anti-piracy technology, developed and patented by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has been tested on one million copies of a Grade 6 textbook.

The Ministry continues to intensify efforts to protect intellectual property and ensure students receive authentic learning material.

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