NCERT and Amazon tie up to ensure availability of original books at marked price

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and Amazon India on Monday partnered through a Letter of Engagement (LoE) to ensure that original NCERT books will be available at the marked price on the e-commerce platform.

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that this is the first such tie-up, which will ensure access to original NCERT textbooks.

“Today’s initiative will strengthen National Education Policy 2020 (NEP2020) vision of making education inclusive, accessible, and affordable. NCERT has been shaping India's education landscape by publishing textbooks since 1963, with a total of around 220 crore books and journals. NCERT is a major think-tank for the country,” he said.

“NCERT will triple the publication of books and publish 15 crore books for next academic session (2025-26),” Pradhan said.

“The NCERT books will be retailed at a price not more than the rate printed on the textbooks. Only original NCERT textbooks shall be retailed on this platform, thereby helping curb the sale of pirated NCERT textbooks. Amazon will help NCERT monitor and take down unauthorised sellers who distribute counterfeit or overpriced books,” the education ministry said.

Moreover, the government believes the tie-up will enable NCERT to leverage customer reviews and feedback to improve the quality of its textbooks and other educational material.

“Moreover, anonymised sales and usage data will be shared with NCERT to facilitate informed decision-making regarding future print orders, distribution strategies, and selection of new distributors in states/districts where the demand for NCERT textbooks is more,” the ministry said.