In 1924, founder Ganesh R. Bhatkal, a former employee of Oxford University Press India, established the Popular Book Depot as an independent bookseller.

In 1990, Popular Prakashan set up a Kolkata-based associate firm, Bhatkal and Sen, for specialized publishing in the fields of culture and women's studies.

These books focus primarily on contemporary debates, grassroots movements, politics and culture as viewed from a critical and progressive standpoint.

[3] Popular Prakashan has published titles in Marathi, concentrating mainly on fiction, drama, literary criticism and poetry.

[5] In partnership with DeAgostini, Popular Prakashan has published the I Get It children's reference series[6] and English-language course English Interactive.