3 newspapers eye Prabhat Khabar

"" have emerged as the front-runners in the race for Prabhat Khabar, the Usha Martin owned Hindi daily that was put on the block earlier this month.

The highest bid for the paper is said to be between Rs 85 crore and Rs 90 crore. Sources close to the development said that the winner will be announced in the next few days.

It is learnt that Dainik Bhaskar publishers Writers & Publishers' Limited were a last minute entrant in the race for Prabhat Khabar.

The company is said to have raised money recently by diluting part of its stake to Warburg. Edelweiss is the advisor to Prabhat Khabar.

The media houses are interested in Prabhat Khabar as it is the largest circulated daily of Jharkhand and sells 2.28 lakh copies.

With seven editions "" one each in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Patna, Kolkata, Deoghar and Siliguri "" the paper's advertising revenue is estimated to be Rs 30 crore.

Of late, however, Prabhat Khabar is facing stiff competition from rivals like Hindustan and Dainik Jagran in the state. The latest readership surveys, National Readership Survey and the Indian Readership Survey, rank Prabhat Khabar at number two position in Jharkhand state behind Hindustan from HT Media Ltd.

However, Prabhat Khabar is still an attractive proposition for its suitors as advertising in the east "" Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Chattisgarh and Orissa "" is growing at nearly 19 per cent a year, more than the national average of about 15-16 per cent.