Gondals Press was in the news in the first week of May for printing a coffee table book The India Journey, which was published by The American Chamber of Commerce in India - AmCham. The book was released during The Annual General Meeting of AmCham held on 4 May 2017 at the Hotel ITC Maurya in Delhi.

During the celebration which doffed its hat at the completion of 25 years in India, Jayant Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State for Civil Aviation released the book The India Journey that highlights the engagement of American companies towards the Indian economy, business and society. Also present at the occasion was MaryKay Loss Carlson, a member of the senior foreign service with the rank of Counselor, who is the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in New Delhi and Pratyush Kumar, president of Boeing India and vice president of Boeing International.

Pankaj Gondal of Gondals Press, sharing details with PrintWeek India, said, “The book pictorially depicts the work done by the US companies across sectors since 1992, which represents the collective contribution of over 500 AmCham member companies.”

Gondal explained how the job was produced. He said, “We used our five-colour Heidelberg CD Speedmaster with extended delivery and online coater which was installed in 2016.” The 88-page (size 10.5inch x 10.5inch) book was printed in five-colours using Pantone silver ink and satin aqueous coated. The inside pages were printed on coated specialty paper Mont Blanc 160gsm, and hardcover with 130gsm Sappi art paper with thermal lamination and spot UV, along with a dust jacket. A thousand copies were produced which was packed in a rigid box.

Gondal informs, “Each page was scanned individually from pagination to pre-press and print. Everything was rendered in-house at our Manesar 20,000 sq/ft facility.”

Gondals Press was referred by their client KPMG to AmCham for design and print of this prestigious publication. Gondal, in turn, engaged their design partner Wish Box Studio for design work.

Shilpa Wadhwa, co-founder, Wishbox Studio said: “The design language is kept minimal yet divided in such a way that it does not look monotonous. The various parts in the book showcase the pictorial journey of AmCham in India along with editorial contributions from various US business leaders.”

The AmCham and KPMG team lauded Pankaj Gondal for his eye for quality and expertise. Madhvi Kataria of AmCham said, “The work done has been excellent and I would like to add my personal thanks and commend you for a job splendidly done. I am also pleased that we have produced a book of such print quality in India that can stand alongside any comparable hardbound books in the world for the design, print quality and paper used, etc. It is a publication I am proud of.”

Delhi-based Gondals Press was established in 1939. The father-son duo of Prashant and Pankaj Gondal restructured the company and set up the plant at IMT Manesar in Gurgaon, Haryana in 2006.

Besides the five-colour Heidelberg, Gondal boasts of a Heidelberg Speedmaster 72F. Only recently, the firm has invested in brand new machines like the section-sewn 24-inch machine from Robertson, Joy finishing kit, a six-clamp Welbound perfect binder and a Grafica Nano Plus press with UV system.

36-year old Pankaj Gondal can be described as a perfectionist and entrepreneur who works with a passion for “creativity and quality”, the man behind the entire execution of the book from design to pre–press and print, joined the family business at the age of 18.

Gondal feels, quality is a culture which has to be developed. At Gondals, we are still trying to maintain that and is not easy to produce “quality finished products in this part of the country” where there is an acute shortage of dedicated skilled workers.” Pankaj Gondal explains, 70% of the jobs are short-run high quality out of the box with value additions, as we ensure complete customer satisfaction. He sums up, "I am always on my toes. There are no short cuts in this profession."

Gondals Press is a commercial printer, which caters to export packaging plus book printing. These days, it produces mono cartons, multi-colour corrugated cartons and customised luxury wedding invitations which can be produced “only” by appointment from Gondal’s city office in Connaught Place, New Delhi.