Rajendra Jain of Indore-based Vijayshri Paper Products has massive expansion plans and targets for the year ahead. According to Jain, the project will start from December and full-fledged operations will begin from April 2016.
The company which has its origin in 1991 was functioning with three divisions: offset printing and packaging, corrugated boxes, notebooks and stationery products and as part of restructuring will be integrated to two namely, packaging and notebook divisions. The expansion will also see the plant’s conversion capability boosted from 600 MT to 1200 MT.
Jain said, "The new unit would now have four printing lines with one of them equipped with UV capability. We also have a fleet of die cutters, folder gluers with the ability to execute four/six corner, short and wide, speciality cartons along with window patching, liner machines and flute laminators.
In addition, Vijayshri is buying two more folder-gluers and two window patcher's. In corrugation, Vijayshri is purchasing new machines from Suba Solutions. This includes a Brausse automatic die cutter from Shanghai Eterna, automatic folder gluer from Shanghai Eterna and an automatic flute laminator from Meiguang.
“Besides the equipment, we plan to have international certifications and accreditation like BRC-IoP, PS, etc for giving a truly hygienic primary and secondary food and pharmaceutical packaging,” added Jain.
Vijayshri can be described as an integrated packaging unit for mono cartons and corrugated boxes. As of now, Vijayshri has two different units, one is offset printing with mono cartons and another unit for the corrugated box.
Jain explained the rationale for the new plant, "For the past three to four years, we have been thinking of one single roof unit. With this in mind, we bought six and a half acres land near the airport in New Indore. We came up with a plan for a unit of around two lakh square feet with two levels. The construction is expected to be over by 15 November, but our machines have started coming in. very soon, these will be shifted to the new place.
Jain has a lot of expectations about the development in Pitampura. He said, "There are basic things, which have taken place. First there is a growth in packaging, the formation of a Pharma SEZ in Pithampur. This has brought in big players, and many more are keen to enter the segment. The second thing is, the major segment in Indore is the food industry apart from incense and garment manufacturers which, has been a huge business presence in Indore.”
Therefore, Jain felt, there is no problem about the future of packaging in Indore. He added, "Food industry has a significant presence and there is a consistent demand for cartons. Nowadays the (food) industry preferences are for cartons to pouch since there are display issues with pouch packages."
PrintWeek India's view: Packaging is a good growth segment in Indore in Central India. The commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh is renowned for its sweets, textiles and agricultural commodities business. Now it is pinning its hopes on retail, services, real estate and infrastructure sectors. PrintWeek India has been impressed with two things: the 52 engineering colleges, 30 management institutes and half-a-dozen medical colleges. Plus Pithampur which is an industrial hub for automobile, drug and textile manufacturers.