Huffington Post inks pact with Times Group for India edition

US-based AOL-owned online news aggregator Huffington Post has signed an agreement with The Times of India Group to launch its India edition. The website, HuffPost India, is likely to be launched later this year and the editorial team will operate from New Delhi.

The English-language website will bring together Huffington Post's news and blogging platform and local expertise and reach of the Times of India Group, the two companies said in a joint statement on Thursday.The target for Huffington Post is the fast growing Internet user base of estimated 370 million by 2015, the statement added.

HuffPost India will cover politics, media and entertainment to technology, religion and lifestyle. Besides, Huffington Post's blogging platform will be opened to "anyone in the country with a story to tell," added the statement.

The announcement was made by Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, and Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet Ltd, the digit alarm of the Times group. "I'm delighted to launch HuffPost India,which will be our 12th edition since we began our international expansion three years ago," Huffington said.

Huffington, who studied comparative religion at Visva-Bharati University, near Kolkata, when she was about 17, said: "I'm extremely grateful for the chance to bring HuffPost to India to tell the stories that matter most, and just as important, to help people throughout India tell their stories themselves, in words, in pictures and in video."

"The Huffington Post is the first real digital-first news success story globally, and their impact is seen across the world. We are excited to combine HuffPost's world-class product with our local reach with consumers and advertisers to tailor-make a great new destination for Indian consumers,' said Gajwani.

The Times of India Group's digital arm Times Internet also has partnerships with other global brands including Business Insider, Gizmodo and Lifehacker. Times Local Partners, a part of Times Internet, was started in 2013 to partner with global digital brands.

Huffington PostMedia Group's chief executive Jimmy Maymann said India is a critical destination for any global media company.

"With Indian household consumption predicted to continue to grow nearly 20% per year, this partnership gives us an ideal entry into what is expected to become the world's fifth-largest consumer market within the next 10 years," he added. Huffington Post has editions in the UK, Canada, France,Spain, Italy, Japan, Maghreb, Germany, Brazil and South Korea.