The grand event was attended by more than 1000 participants consisting of industry members, IIP alumni members, academicians, employees, and policy makers. 

 

The chief guest of the evening was Maharashtra's governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who unveiled IIP’s new logo. The logo which is designed by Ahmedabad’s National Institute of Design.

 

Other dignitaries on the dais included Rajani Ranjan Rashmi, additional secretary, ministry of commerce and industry, and Padma Vibhushan Dr RA Mashelkar, a renowned scientist and innovator.

 

Speaking at the event, Rao urged IIP to work closely with other educational institutes and universities to create awareness about the scope of packaging as a career option. Rao said, “As a governor, I’m also the chancellor of 20 universities in the state, with an enrolment of three million students. To my knowledge, very few students are aware of the career opportunities in packaging.”

 

Dr Mashelkar, who delivered the keynote address, opined that the Indian packaging industry is poised for tremendous growth ahead. “The ‘I' in India has to stand for innovation, not imitation and not inhibition. The Indian packaging industry has less than 5% share of the world’s USD 550bn packaging industry. There is an enormous potential for growth. Intelligent packing, active packing, and functional diagnostic packing is going to be, sort of the future,” he said.

 

The Institute also inaugurated an exclusive Technology Innovation Centre at the hands of Rajani Ranjan Rashmi. This centre will be dedicated to developing innovative packaging technology and also to determine the chemical constituents in plastic materials, for instance, BPA in polycarbonate and phthalate in PET.