S. Chand's quiet masterclass: How a legacy publisher survived during edtech bust

The legacy education content publisher posted a 65% jump in operating income in FY25 and ended the year with over ₹100 crore in cash reserves, without raising fresh capital or going all-in on digital pivots.

According to Saurabh Mittal, chief financial officer of S. Chand, the company’s focus has been clear: resist the hype, avoid overextension, and double down on content that works across formats—print and digital alike.

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“Education is a staircase business, not an elevator business," Mittal said in an interview. “We’d rather grow slower but generate consistent free cash flows, than chase high topline growth that doesn’t translate to meaningful returns. We’ve seen cases where companies doubled revenue but still struggled with cash burn. For us, it’s about sustainable, efficient growth."

The company's stock ended little changed at ₹217.65 on the BSE on Wednesday.

S. Chand has stayed conservative in the years of edtech's rise and fall, cutting inefficiencies, expanding its digital content library and preparing its backend systems. The company is structuring its content and tech infrastructure in a way that makes it flexible and ready to be delivered across multiple platforms or formats, including print, digital, hybrid, or even third-party platforms.

Reinventing without the noise

Delhi-based S. Chand emerged from the covid years leaner, profitable and more agile. In FY19, the company had net sales of ₹522 crore and a net loss of ₹67 crore. In FY20, the revenue fell to ₹429 crore, while losses jumped to ₹111 crore. Since then, the company has seen a turnaround, with FY21 loss narrowing to ₹6 crore, and it has been profitable since FY22, when it made ₹8 crore.

“Our tech stack is fully consolidated, but we haven’t tried to build it ourselves," Mittal said. “Enough vendors are building good tools. We focus on content and let tech specialists handle distribution layers."

The company’s digital content library has expanded by nearly 30% over the last two years, with new content across national-level education boards CBSE, ICSE and NEP-aligned curricula.

Test-prep material, tie-ups with educational YouTubers and QR-enabled Google Lens (image recognition technology) integrations are also part of the growing ecosystem. Print, however, remains the mainstay.

“K–8 books still drive the bulk of revenues," Mittal said. “Despite the noise, most schools that switched to tablets have moved back to print. Books are cheaper, simpler to use and less distracting."

Betting on NEP

The ongoing implementation of India’s National Education Policy (NEP) and new curriculum frameworks is proving to be a structural tailwind. As National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks are updated and state boards begin aligning their syllabi, S. Chand is often a first mover in content creation.

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While Mittal acknowledged that states such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka have resisted adopting the NCERT framework, he described the overall NEP-driven rollout as a tailwind. “We already created NCF (national curriculum framework)-based content two years ago. Now, we’re mapping it to the actual NCERT textbooks as they come out," he said.

The NEP 2020, which replaced the previous National Policy on Education of 1986, is a comprehensive education policy that aims to transform India's education system from early childhood to higher education. The NCF provides a roadmap for how to implement NEP's vision in classrooms through curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment practices.

The company is also looking to fill white spaces in its portfolio via selective acquisitions. Two potential targets are under active consideration—one in the exam-prep segment and another focused on international curriculum content such as Cambridge or International Baccalaureate (IB), areas where S. Chand currently lacks scale.

But the CFO is clear: valuations must be reasonable. “Some players expect 2x revenue valuations. That’s unrealistic in this category unless there’s exceptional growth or margins," he said. “We’re not paying a premium when we ourselves are trading below that."

Not competing, just enduring

In many ways, S Chand’s strategy is not to directly compete with high-decibel edtech brands, but to endure alongside them. The company positions itself as a content-first, platform-neutral player.

“We don’t see ourselves competing with BYJU’s or Physics Wallah," Mittal said. “We’re not trying to be a tech company. We’re an education content company that delivers across formats."

That stance has also helped the company sidestep the challenges faced by venture-funded edtech platforms, many of which expanded rapidly during covid and are now cutting costs or winding down verticals.

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“There was a lot of FOMO (fear of missing out) and hype during the pandemic. But learning outcomes were not always great. In fact, many schools and countries like those in Scandinavia have gone back to physical classrooms," Mittal noted.

The company also avoids large marketing campaigns or brand-led spends. Growth is driven primarily by school relationships, workshops and teacher-enablement programmes.

“We do over 4,000 teacher workshops a year. That’s where our impact is felt," he said.

Preparing for the next decade

Mittal acknowledged that higher education textbooks have seen a decline, with college students increasingly going digital. But the K–8 market, he said, remains resilient. For older students (Classes 9–12), hybrid learning is gaining some traction, but the overall addressable market is relatively small compared to early school years.

Importantly, S. Chand’s content is already structured to go digital when required. “Every book we create now has videos, assessments and platform-readiness built in," Mittal said. “If a school wants to switch tomorrow, we’re ready."

Even though it has explored monetizing its digital intellectual properties (IPs) or spinning off subsidiaries in the past, the company is now focused on internal consolidation. “We’re merging entities back to stay efficient. Raising funds just for the sake of it doesn’t make sense," he said.