Commercial printer Sundeep Press has been operating from Delhi’s Naraina Industrial Area for four decades. Started in 1985 by the late Sikander Lal Kukreja from a rented space, the press now operates from an 18,000-square-foot premises in Naraina Phase 1 and is managed by Sundeep Kukreja and his sons, Shivam and Dhruv.
The Kukrejas recently installed an RMGT 920 ST4+CD four-color sheetfed offset press. Explaining the choice, Sundeep Kukreja said they analyzed several sheetfed offset presses before finalizing the RMGT. “The RMGT press has a built-in blanket wash. The spectrodrive feature and the automatic side lay help drive growth and productivity.”
According to the Kukrejas, the press has increased productivity, shortened makeready times and brought wastage down to negligible or zero levels.
Sundeep Press has a Kodak CtP in the prepress department, and a refurbished Heidelberg SM74 five-color press with coater and a refurbished Heidelberg four-color press in the press area.
The binding and finishing department has four Heidelberg Stahl folding machines, a Müller Martini flow line, six-clamp and single-clamp binding machines from Electromec and Aster, Polygraph sewing machines, and a Kolbus casemaker, along with cutting, finishing and hardback back-to-back pasting machines.
The printer uses Hi-Kote and Bilt papers for production, and Iris Van inks for printing. Sakata inks are also used for certain grades of Maplitho paper.
According to Kukreja, the company has stayed in Naraina since 1985 because it is a commercial printing hub where printing supplies, transportation and raw materials are easily available. It takes large print orders from corporates and does not take on small jobs. While the majority of its clients are from the Delhi-NCR region, the printer is also open to large orders from outside the city.
Kukreja joined operations in 1992, when the company was running letterpress machines. He recalled the transition from letterpress to single-color presses and then to multi-color presses, first Heidelberg and now RMGT.
“The Covid-19 pandemic led to a lot of changes in the printing industry, and it took a long time to bounce back. Digital took a leap. While the hospitality and travel and tourism segments bounced back, the printing industry is still struggling, with printers diversifying into packaging to survive,” he said.
Stiff competition is the biggest challenge. “We have people working with us for 15-20 years, so we don’t face much of a trained-manpower issue. The rates of print consumables and raw materials, however, have shot up after the US-Israeli war on Iran. This has affected our margins, as the cost of printed products hasn’t increased. It has resulted in further competition among printers,” he added.
The new generation has given the business a much-needed push. Shivam joined four years ago and Dhruv in April 2026. “The third generation has brought a lot of aggressive energy into the business. My sons are interested in learning the ropes,” Kukreja said.
The Kukrejas plan to move to their own 50,000-square-foot facility in Delhi by the end of 2028 or early 2029. As construction has just started, they are evaluating sheetfed offset machines and other ancillary equipment for the plant. “We are currently looking at five-color and six-color machines with coaters, and eight-color perfectors. Book printing and packaging are the two segments we plan to diversify into in the near future,” he concluded.
