China's earnings from stamps sale are 225 times that of India.
India earned Rs 39.88 crore against China's Rs 9,000 crore from the sale of stamps in 2015-16. The gap in earnings has woken up the ministry of communications to the revenue potential of philately, which has over a 150-year-old history in the country.
The government is now planning to explore the business model by proposing to set up an India Post Philately Public Ltd Company, according to ministry sources. As per plans, 88 philately bureaus will be set up across the country, besides the philatelic counters.
These will be apart from the 33 in post offices for definitive stamps, used for day-to-day postal mailing. Sources said a corporate structure would be set up for customised and commemorative stamps, which collectors mostly invest in, with an eye on revenue generation for India Post.
"The historic and contemporary legacy of India's postal stamps are sought to be given a corporate cover to garner its true revenue potential and popular worth," said Communications and Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
India, at present ranks lower in revenue from stamp sales, compared to countries like Brazil (Rs 1,000 crore), US (Rs 1,170 crore), France (Rs 600 crore), United Kingdom (Rs 500 crore) and even New Zealand (Rs 100 crore). The China National Philatelic Corporation is the primary agency authorised by state-owned China Post Group Corporation to sell national stamps and other philatelic material.
Stamp collector Madhukar Jhingan said China has around 2 crore stamp collectors, while in India there are just 25,000 serious collectors. Welcoming the government's proposal for a business model, he said the number of stamp collectors in the country might go up.
"I am happy the government is doing something. Earlier, the marketing was zero, but now they seem to be reaching out to people," he said. There are around 5,000 websites on philately, according to him.
That philately could be a revenue earner was gauged by the sale of the Surya Namaskar stamp, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on International Yoga Day on June 21. Stamps worth around Rs 5 lakh were sold.
The costliest Indian stamp was the "inverted head" with Queen Victoria's head printed upside down due to an error, which sells for around Rs 1 crore, said Jhingan. He said there were 28-29 copies of the stamp, which changed hands at international auctions.
Besides capitalising on stamps for revenue, the government has also seen it as a way of enhancing international diplomacy.
Sources recalled that during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, after releasing a set of four stamps dedicated to it, Modi had suggested that they be sent to countries which enter the semi-finals with good wishes from India.
While releasing the stamps, the Prime Minister had said that sports brings about a spirit of amity and belonging among nations and expressed the hope that the FIFA World Cup became a bridge for connecting nations.
Source-DNA India
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