The evolving landscape of the print and packaging industry in Rajkot - The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

One of Gujarat’s most bustling cities, Rajkot, is a hub for automotive parts, the forging industry, the casting industry, and machine tools, among many other things. There are around 500 foundry units in Rajkot, that produce grey iron castings for the domestic market. As is the case with any city, the print business is integral to all these industries’ functioning.

The value of the print industry across India exceeded Rs 271-billion in 2024. This is expected to increase to Rs 288-billion by 2026, indicating a compound annual growth rate of around 3.4% (source: Statista).
Likewise, the size of the Indian packaging market is estimated at USD 71.90-billion now, and according to the Indian Institute of Packaging in Mumbai, the packaging industry is expected to grow to USD 130-billion by 2028, indicating a CAGR of 12.6%.

Moving from a macro perspective to a micro one, what is the status quo of the print industry in Rajkot?

Rajkot has print and packaging companies that were established as far back as 40 years ago. Today, among the oldest surviving presses, which have been in existence for over 30 years are Ajanta Press, Poorvi Press, Karachi Offset, Gujarat Printers, Sanket Offset, and Simran Offset.

The Rajkot Printing & Packaging Association (RPPA) was established in 2017, by Hemang Shah, who then helmed Vinayak Offset. Shah has since exited the print business, handing the reins over to Ashish Patel, a member of RPPA.

Navin Kotadia, the CEO and managing director of U-line Multiprint is the current president of the RPPA, with 106 members, of which roughly 25 are commercial printers, and the rest are packaging firms.

At a meeting of the RPPA on 1 August, member paper and paperboard converters in attendance, included Kotadia, Ashish Patel of Vinayak Offset; Chetan Patel of Balaji Post Press and Boxium; Hardik Patel of Sfumato; Hasmukh Patel of Perfect Offset; Hitesh Kakadia of Packaging Hub; Jayesh Patel of Ad Print; Jitubhai Kamani of Vertex Graphics Process; Manish Gosalia of Vijay Sales Agency; Mehul Kamani of Print City; Mihir Patel of Dee Ech Print N Pack; Rajesh Patel of Kailash Printers; and Rakesh Sanchaniya of Kalavid.

Rajkot is a hub for the print and packaging industry, boasting around 200 firms. The top 10 companies have a turnover ranging from Rs 25- Rs 30-crore, positioning them as large print and converting firms with over two multi-colour presses. Additionally, approximately 40 firms with turnovers between Rs 5- and Rs 10 crore are equipped with one or more four-colour presses. Furthermore, there’s a cluster of about 50 small print and converting firms with either two-colour or single-colour presses and a turnover of under Rs 3- to Rs 5 crore. Moreover, there are around 100 screen printers and designers with turnovers in the Rs 1 crore range. The designers depend on the print-packaging converters and screen printers to actualise their designs. According to Katodia, president of  RPPA, the size of the Rajkot print and packaging industry is Rs 1,000-crore.

Drivers of print and packaging
The size of the non-electronics kitchen accessories market in India was Rs 5,721-crore (USD 715.20-mn) in 2023, with a predicted CAGR of 11.56% till 2029, according to a report by Tech Sci Research.
During the discussion, some members of the RPPA reported that Rajkot accounts for around 60% of India’s kitchenware market. “It’s one of the sectors that is driving the growth of Rajkot’s print and packaging industry,” said Ashish Patel, managing director of Vinayak Offset.

Another hub is Morbi, 60-km away from Rajkot, which is a hotspot for the ceramic industry. According to a recent news report, the Indian ceramic industry clocked a revenue of Rs 62,000-crore in 2024. Gujarat accounts for 90–95% of ceramic production, and exports are at Rs 20,000-crore.

Rajkot also manufactures a variety of industrial products, including bearings, diesel engines, kitchen knives, cutting appliances, watch parts (cases and bracelets), automotive parts, the forging industry, the casting industry, and machine tools. The city is also home to several CNC machine and auto parts manufacturers. Many of these industries rely on print and packaging services provided by firms in Rajkot.
According to members of the RPPA, around 1% of the turnover of the companies engaged in manufacturing equipment and tools, is spent on packaging.

The million-dollar question — digital or offset?
Printing companies in Rajkot are now taking on many short-run jobs. However, stationery printing (usually of a high volume in the city) has decreased, much like commercial printing.

Covid-19 impacted commercial printing. Catalogue work that came from industries in Morbi, and Jetpur reduced drastically. Most moved to using PDFs shared on WhatsApp. Stationery printing, including billbooks, also reduced, with most of the companies opting to share invoices electronically. Offset printing came down to 10% during the pandemic.

Chetan Patel, managing director of Balaji Post Press, has been in the industry for more than two decades. He says, “The digital takeover has put commercial printing down. Everything has shifted to PDF.” This points to a significant shift in printing in recent years—the flourishing of digital printing over commercial and offset.

Digital players benefitted from the pandemic. Digital printing grew to three times its size during Covid-19. Earlier brochure quantities were around 3,000 to 5,000. Since the runs have reduced, the demand for getting it printed digitally has grown.

Does choosing digital printing over offset mean that printers are compromising on something? Some printers in Rajkot have both offset and digital machines on their shop floor.

Members of the RPPA agree that while digital printing is cheaper for short-run jobs, they would prefer offset technologies when there are multiple processes involved. This is because digital machines do not have many options for post-press processes.

So, when commercial printing declined, most people transitioned to packaging, as opposed to digital printing. The reason: by ganging the jobs, these printers meet the short-run requirements of their clients. However, this is not comparing like with like, because what offset can produce in a given period, digital can do better, and vice versa.

The shift to packaging
The Rajkot industry has observed a keen trend over the last decade—the packaging industry has increased to three times its size. All members of the RPPA agree that “Rajkot has mastered the ability to harmonise quality and quantity in short-run jobs.”

20 years ago, there were 50-odd units, and today there are more than 300 units — all of them with sufficient packaging business. Covid-19 accelerated this growth.

“There was a time, about two decades ago, when the cost for a particular type of packaging was Rs 3, and the customers would quote Rs 2.90. Today, the customer is willing to pay Rs 3.50 but demands attractive packaging,” said Kotadia. “We envisage that in the years to come, this demand for packaging will only grow.”

One of the other reasons printers in Rajkot have transitioned to packaging is the decline in commercial printing. The city has a thriving print industry, but it also specialises in post-press. Companies here provide services like micro embossing, UV, and foiling. RPPA members also leverage outsourcing and collaboration.

To that end, Chetan Patel observes, “Competition is there, not at the level of price, but at the level of quality.”

Digital plate production
Regarding changes in raw materials, Jitubhai Kamani, owner of Vertex Graphics Process, observes, “Plate consumption has increased in recent years.”

In 2015, about two tradeshops were producing CTP plates. Today, there are 16.

Of the 16, Vertex is the biggest, with five plate setters, two of which are very large format (VLF) plate setters. The other 15 have one plate setter each. Around 1,600 plates are fired in a day, of which around 1,000 are by Vertex.

“So, we can say that the platesetter business has grown. That is because the packaging market has grown,” said Kamani.

Two print firms have in-house CTP, but most other printers are not inclined to have it in-house. Rajesh Patel of Kailash Printers explained why many do not have CTP in-house: “One is the investment in the machine and raw material. We also have to earmark space. For most of us, it makes sense to outsource plates, which works out cheaper.”

Hitesh Kakadia of Packaging Hub said finding manpower to handle the machine and their remuneration is an additional expense. “If the trade shops can provide the quality we need, our purpose is served.”

Tradeshops like Vertex provide high-quality plates to its customers. “The presses which run our plates are calibrated, and the profiles are saved. This enables personalised service,” said Kamani.

However, one of the two print companies has a CTP in-house, Perfect Offset. Hashmukh Patel from the company says, “What we achieve is time savings and quality in terms of special requirements. Plus, the option of reproducing a plate whenever we want.”

That is why most members of the RPPA resort to outsourcing plate making. However, members say that people who make plates in-house will compromise on saving money, but save time and preserve quality.

Combating counterfeiting
One of the biggest issues facing the print industry is counterfeiting. PrintWeek asked the members of the RPPA how they combat phoney products.

The RPPA says they have yet to observe many counterfeit products in Gujarat. However, most members agree that they maintain documentation for every part of the job, and ensure a paper trail.

Mihir Patel of Dee Ech, says, “There’s honesty here. So even if a fake job comes to us, we don’t take it. We warn each other about fake jobs.”

The credit climate
In terms of credit, companies in Rajkot don’t have a set number of days as such and allow credit from 45 to 120 days. The printers are broadly happy with the payment modes that they have in place.

When asked about cost-cutting, members of the RPPA say that they face up to 20% in cost-cutting negotiations. They add that local players are far more accommodating than multinational companies.

Now, there are several software and technologies available to businesses to estimate costs. Members of the RPPA were asked whether they use any of these tools for internal costing. They say, “We don’t make use of ERPs in depth. Our brains are like software.”

The manpower muddle
The operation of computer-to-plate (CTP) requires a technician, but printing companies in Rajkot say that there is a high shortage of trained manpower.

This points to a systemic problem — one related to education. Very few institutions offer full-fledged programmes in printing and packaging technology. There are less than 20 institutions nationwide that offer any kind of education in this sector.

Those that do, need to be updated in their curriculum, provide more practical exposure to the students, are expensive, or are in cities where many people cannot afford to go. To that end, according to the members of the RPPA, only an enthusiast can be a printer.

To overcome this, printers in the city want structured training for their manpower, and educational institutions that offer formal education in printing and packaging.

The USP
The clients are aware of the effectiveness of good high-quality packaging. Customers are designing, printing and converting their packaging based on how premium their products are.

One of the drivers of Rajkot’s print and packaging industry is its ability to produce small quantities (ranging from 3,000–5,000 pieces). One member claimed that the quality of packaging that Rajkot produces, is perhaps unique to Rajkot, its ability to embellish the packaging being its USP.

The ability to micro-emboss is also one of the unique abilities that Rajkot has as a value-added feature. Was it something that was nurtured in Rajkot?

Apart from micro-embossing, there is UV and foiling. Once the companies get a job, they start working on it by deliberating what processes will look good on it. There are a few iterations of the job before it is finally produced. While print is the beginning, the effort put into finishing the packaging does the trick.

As Chetan Patel had observed, competition is there at the level of quality instead of price.

For example, if a converter brings in a new technology, there is hardly anyone who will go get it just because someone got it. Patel says, “We know that if someone has brought in a new technology, it must have been after due consideration and research. That research takes time. It also allows the company that has purchased the technology enough time to recover its investment and make a profit, before the next company gets it.”

The thing is: when a new technique is bought, it does not become popular immediately. Once it becomes popular, the demand cannot be met by the one who has developed it. A need is felt for others to step in.

This is where the print community in Rajkot wins.

In larger cities, there are big packaging converters, who have finishing capabilities in-house. But in a city like Rajkot, investing in a complete in-house facility is not feasible, because the runs are small. Hence, each one specialises in what they are good at.

For example, earlier Rajkot printers could not compete with products that were produced in Ahmedabad. One of the reasons was post-press.

Challenges in the industry
As mentioned earlier, the first and arguably the most challenging aspect for the industry in Rajkot is a lack of manpower. With the right kind of training and an increase in the number of institutions that provide training in printing and packaging technology, members of the RPPA hope this problem will be solved.

Printers in Rajkot also hope that eventually, there will be fewer loopholes in the credit system. The members in attendance also emphasise the need for quality assurance laboratories. They note the absence of multinational companies in the city, which affects the opportunities for printing and packaging companies. Another thing the printers of Rajkot want is either the reduction of or uniformity in the GST levied on their products and services.