4.7 lakh fake NCERT books seized in piracy crackdown: Govt

NEW DELHI: In a record crackdown on textbook piracy, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has seized around 4.71 lakh pirated copies of its textbooks in operations across multiple states in 2024 and 2025, the govt told Lok Sabha on Monday. The raids, targeting manufacturers and sellers of counterfeit books and even producers of fake NCERT watermarked paper, led to confiscation of stock and machinery worth over Rs 20 crore.

MoS for education Jayant Chaudhary said piracy was driven largely by "commercial motives of unscrupulous elements" and undermined NCERT's mission of providing quality, affordable textbooks. The enforcement action covered 29 premises linked to the illegal trade.

To cut into the counterfeit market, NCERT has slashed textbook prices by 20%, improved paper and printing quality using modern machines, and expanded online sales. It has also piloted a technology-based anti-piracy solution - developed and patented by IIT-Kanpur.