Increasing newsprint costs in India mean many publications are postponing launches, as well as raising advertising rates, Rediff News reported Friday.

The price of waste newspaper, which is recycled to make newsprint, was up between 30 and 40 percent during the first quarter. Costs of pulp, power and coal are also up.

Metro Now, an English-language newspaper in Delhi, is postponing its entry into state capitals, and has cut down on its print run in the Delhi region. The newspaper, a joint venture between HT Media and Bennett, Coleman and Company, has also put the idea of launching a Sunday newspaper on the back burner, according to Rediff News.

The Times of India is also waiting to launch in smaller towns in southern and central India, which it had been planning on doing since earlier this year, when it launched its Jaipur, Goa and Chennai editions. Meanwhile, the Business Standard has closed the Rajkot edition of its Gujarati newspaper, Rediff News reported.

Waste newspaper prices have risen from Rs 7,000-8,000 per tonne last quarter, to Rs 11,000-12,000 per tonne currently, said V D Bajaj, executive director of Rama Newsprint and Papers.