Although the onset of the pandemic saw the closure of schools and an absence of new textbooks, this part of the industry seems to be recovering its normal trajectory of capacity creation. As stated by Priyanshu Agarwal, director of SK Offset, and Varun Johar, managing director of Microprints India, one of the key reasons for the growth recovery is the failure of the ‘digital education system’ in schools. Arpita Das, founder of Yoda Press says that books that were believed to be gone after the learn-from-home digital intervention – are still here in their vibrant fullness and are here to stay – although co-existing with the eBooks.
Akshay Kaushal, executive director of Provin Technos explains, “Due to the change in curricula and the introduction of the new syllabus, the publication and book printing segment is now going through an upward trend throughout the country.” Jitendra Rohila, general manager of sales at Komori India confirms this trend, adding that the printing of brochures, diaries, and pamphlets still has some demand in tier II and tier III cities whereas these products have slightly declined in tier I cities. Elections are another positive impetus to print that brings an increase in banners, brochures, and pamphlets in printed formats.
According to Stanley Decastro of Komori India, the component and chip supply chain of press manufacturers has eased. In the current financial year, the company is still clearing out the backlog of machines ordered in the past couple of years, as are other companies. He says the average delivery time of a Komori sheetfed press is around 8-9 months. His colleague Rohila adds that 70% of Komori sales in India are to the commercial segment with many repeat orders.
Commercial printers like Neelam Commercial Center, SK Offset, GM Offset, Royal Offset, Microprints India, Pragati Offset, Madurai Print and Pack, Pragati Graphics, and many more have upgraded their capacity with new machines from Heidelberg, Komori, and RMGT. The number of commercial press installations and demand for new multicolor offset presses point to growth recovery.
