At this early stage, it contains just a sprinkling of Indian news with the Mail online’s familiar British/US celebrity content. (The sports content is British).

It is a natural move for the Mail’s ultimate owner, Daily Mail & General Trust, which launched a newspaper title, Mail Today, in India in November 2007.

The Delhi-based paper, with an initial print-run of 110,000 copies, looks just like its British counterpart - same size, same type fonts and similar mix of editorial content.

In its 2011 annual report, released last week, DMGT said the paper was “still loss-making” but had grown revenues by over 50% year-on-year, with advertising up 48% and circulation up 91%.

Notably, it added: “The relationship with our partners will be the foundation to extend Mailonline’s presence in the market.”

Due to India’s foreign media ownership restrictions, DMGT is able to hold only a 26% interest in its Indian venture. Its partner is the India Today Group run by Aroon Purie.