Kolkata, Feb 2 (IANS): Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor expressed hope for the proliferating Indian publishing sector saying it is in a "healthy shape".

"Publishing on the whole is in a healthy shape in India. Good news is that there is a proliferation of publishers," said Tharoor at the Kolkata Literary Meet here Friday.

"Today you are seeing a number of world class publishers in India and a number of Indian publishers who themselves have met international standards of production quality, design quality among others," said the minister.

Tharoor felt that the upswing in number of Indian publishing houses offers a range of options to budding Indian writers.

"It has offered a tremendous range of options to Indian writers and we have seen Indian writers who have come to the fore who have been published by Indian houses," said Tharoor, who also felt self-publishing can also be an option.

Highlighting the current status of India as the only country in the world where all forms of media are growing, Tharoor said every year "the graph keeps growing up".

"India is the only country in the world where all forms of media are growing. You have got more newspapers being published every year, more magazines at a time when publishers in the rest of the world are shrinking and closing.

"We have got more radio stations, more books being published. The graph keeps growing up every year. And since 25 percent of our population is yet to become literate one can safely assume that the graph will keep on going up for another generation," said Tharoor.

According to the minister, the country may be the last refuge in the English speaking world for talented writers and journalists because everywhere else that space is shrinking, while India is still growing.