Around 270 new printing press units will be in India in 2015

We do not have the exact figures on the pre-owned machines, but according to industry experts, if we consider the ratio of 1:7 between new and pre-owned printing presses (this is because most small and medium printers go for pre-owned rather than a brand new one), we have no less than 450 pre-owned printing presses coming to India this year.

 

For a printer in India, a printing press is a major investment. First, the machines are expensive.

 

Second, there are so many choices in the market, from foreign-made ones to domestic ones, that it needs a lot of planning and research before a printer can decide upon a machine. Traditionally, however, it has been observed that Indian manufactures prefer imported printing presses compared to their domestic counterparts.

 

For example, the German-made printing presses have a fabled reputation in the growth of the Indian print industry, especially in the offset sheetfed segment. In the recent years, Japanese manufacturers also have made a strong impact in the Indian market.

 

Among these 70 presses, Japanese manufacturer Komori leads the market with 25 installations. It is followed by another Japanese giant RMGT, with 19 installations. KBA has seven and Sinohara reopens its account this year and installed one machine. Manroland, on the other hand, is still struggling.

 

According to Peter Rego of Heidelberg, "If we look at new machines which have touched India port from 1 January to 31 December, we have 19 machines installed in India." Of these, eight are six +L  (that is, six  plus coaters ) and more. Even by the financial year April 2015 to March 2016, Rego said, "We estimate 19  machines, out of which 13 have been shipped to date."

 

According to estimates, the value of offset printing machines imported in 2014-15 would be around Rs 416 crore. For first seven months of 2015, it was around Rs 345 crore.