Mihir's Impressions - Newspaper readership in India defies the trend

According to the most recent Indian Readership Survey, circulation is growing at the rate of 8% during last year. And newspaper advertising is projected to grow by 12% a year through 2015, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs. Lifestyle habits, rising literacy (Indian literacy rate grew to 74.04% in 2011 from 12% at the end of British rule in 1947) and comparatively low internet penetration (According to http://www.internetworldstats.com/ out of India’s 121 crore population only 10.2% of which use internet while 78.3% of United States population uses internet) plays a role in the papers' continued success, they've also built loyalty among readers by emphasising their local identity in marketing messaging.

Deccan Chronicle’s hit a all-time low

Just when we thought Deccan Chronicle Holdings had hit rock bottom when their IPL franchise Deccan Chargers were expelled from Indian Premier League, they have just spiralled to a new low. Shares of Deccan Chronicle Holdings (DCHL) touched a new 52-week low of Rs 8.33 on Wednesday, losing more than 13% since Monday this week.

The Hyderabad-based publisher of three English newspapers and one vernacular daily defaulted on its repayment of Rs 5,000-crore loans, taken from a consortium of about 11 banks.

The banks and financial institutions which have lent money to the group are also under the finance ministry’s scanner. The finance ministry has asked a two-member panel to conduct a probe for alleged irregularities in their dealings with the Hyderabad-based media house.

The government's move comes a month after finance secretary DK Mittal said lead banker Canara Bank is carrying out a forensic audit of the accounts of Deccan Chronicle. The 74-year-old media house which has defaulted on loan repayments and whose founders are the subject of a criminal complaint for pledging shares that were already pawned, have seen their market value plunge by more than 80% in eight months to Rs 200-crore.

Expectations of a bigger and better Labelexpo

Labelexpo India 2012 is just over a week away (29 October- 1 November, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi) and with vast number of product launches and live demonstration, Labelexpo India promises to be an exciting affair.

Since the show was last held in 2010, India's label industry has continued to grow at around 15%, while globally it’s 7%. The label and packaging industry has also received a boost from the Indian government’s decision of easing the restrictions on foreign direct investment norms for the retail sector. This development is set to create immense opportunity to expand and grow for the Indian packaging and labelling industry.

The last Labelexpo India held in December 2010 was rated as a “solid success” with the organiser stating that there were 6,054 visitors in attendance – a figure that was up by 27% from the show in 2008. The organisers are confident of a better footfall this time around as well.

Label Yatra: Super Label, Webtech, Gujarat Print Pack Publication and Letra Grafix

The packaging industry is one of the fastest growing segment in the printing industry. We at Printweek India realise the potential of the industry and visited some of the biggest label printing firm to capture the zest of a successful label printing firm. We visited hugely successful label printing firms Super Labels, WebtechGujarat Print Pack Publication and Letra Grafix, to understand the functioning of a true market leader.

Super Labels and Webtech are are based in New Mumbai, though Webtech also has a unit in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. Gujarat Print Pack Publication is based in Mehsana in Gujarat and Letra Grafix in Ahmedabad.There is a consensus among them about the industry’s future prospect as they both project a roughly 20% growth of the industry.

Super Labels have three Gallus presses in their armoury and they almost exclusively use Avery Dennison and UPM Raflatec label stock. Super Labels like to call themselves converters rather than printers and their entire pre-press operations are outsourced.

Webtech’s arsenal consists of 14 conventional narrow web presses from Gidue and Mark Andy and one Xeikon 3000 digital press. Unlike Super Labels, Webtech has an in- house pre-press department and can provide design solutions to their customers.

Gujarat Print Pack is equipped with Omet’ Flexy 330 and Aqua Instaprep, a Canadian machine and prints 2.5 lakh sq/meter of labels per month using stock from SMI Industries and Raflatec. The company also produces cartons and corrugated boxes using offset and gravure process. The company has its own conventional plate processing unit, which caters to its 50% requirement, while the other 50% is sourced from Vee Pee, Bengaloru and Shilp Ultratech, Ahmedabad. The company has acquired a site in Sanand, Ahmedabad where it plans to move the flexo and carton division. It has earmarked an investment of Rs 20-crore, seven-crore of which will go into purchase of new flexo presses, detection systems and value addition machines, to strengthen its existing facility.

Letra Grafix in Ahmedabad has three Gallus, an eight-colour and ten-colour Gallus EM 280 presses and a Gallus EM 340S press. Low on publicity and one which does not want to be seen as a trumpt-blowing company is recipient of many awards, including several Finat awards. It provides design solutions where possible, but sources its plates from trade shops. According to Letra Grafix, the latest trends in labels is towards filmic labels and combination printing.

Pharmaceutical, agricultural and FMCG sectors are the major sectors which boost the label printing industry and the expansion of the supermarket/mall culture will only increase the requirement of labels.

Hence the packaging industry seems to be riding a wave of exponential growth.

Mihir Joshi, besides being a PrintWeek India scribe, is a central defender and supporter of AC Milan. In his weekly column he immortalises the power of print with the same passion with which he gets excited about the world's greatest game.