Natasha, how is the market doing in India in terms of run lengths, color, quality?
In India, the print market is growing steadily, especially in the packaging sector. Printers are attuned to value addition in print and are achieving exceptional results for their end buyers. There is a substantial change in run lengths towards specialized short run jobs in commercial print and value added effects in large run packaging printing. Quality standards have improved dramatically and immense production capacities have been creatrd with the advent of professionally run print houses. India’s printing business is expanding its horizons towards exports and international markets owing to large-scale production capabilities and the meeting of international safety and production benchmarks.

How big is the effect of the new media on print jobs in India?
Electronic media have witnessed stupendous growth, especially in the metros and bigger cities; however, interestingly enough, print media have also maintained a steady growth path across the country. The newspaper industry in India is the fastest growing newspaper market on the globe. The packaging sector in India has witnessed a growth of 18-20% year over year and will steer the growth of the printing industry in coming decades. The publishing business has however seen some decline in readership owing to the advent of electronic media like the ipad, kindle etc.

How does the situation in investments shape up (machines, software, employees)?
Post-recession 2009, there has been a significant rise in machinery investments by the Indian Printing Industry. Several new projects have been initiated in the packaging, commercial and newspaper sectors. The compounded annual growth rate for the Indian printing sector has been estimated at 12.2% for the period 2007-12. Regional newspapers in India have doubled their circulation and added several local editions over the past 5 years. A large section of packaging investments have been dedicated towards value additions for end buyers. Exports of publishing and pharmaceutical packaging have been a major growth driver for Indian printers. Print exports are estimated to rise 40% by 2014.