Speculative predictions for the next decade

Speculative predictions for the Indian print and packaging industry

One should not hazard any predictions for the next decade. But since much of the trend forecasting of the first IppStar industry survey has turned out to be broadly correct, one cannot resist temptation at the start of another decade. (Do keep in mind that our figures are mostly misunderstood and wrongly quoted by most of the people who keep directly and indirectly ‘borrowing’ from our multi-client research project.)

Anyway here goes. I predict a GDP growth of 8.2 to 8.8 per cent for the next two years, and about 8 per cent CAGR for the entire decade. Of course it could be higher but I do not see any concrete evidence of why growth should be taken for granted for a ten year period.

It is true that our industry is currently buoyant and feeling very optimistic and mostly not on the basis of exports, but on the basis of domestic demand. However the industry continues to be fragmented and without coherent leadership. I do not think this will change in the next decade — although I have earlier predicted that by 2014 the industry will actually put forward a new generation of real print industry leaders that can think about the industry from beyond their own individualistic point of view.

At the beginning of the last decade I wondered if the Indian manufacturers of printing equipment and consumables would survive in the face of Chinese competition. My impression now is that many are able to develop, acquire and absorb new technology which means that they will survive and grow, albeit with some consolidation as we have seen in plate manufacturing. The ink manufacturers are already all here and they will continue to expand their local manufacture although the consolidation of their parent companies will also continue.

In the coming decade, international paper manufacturers will bring in some of their idle machines and also their fibre. Garnett Papers near Mumbai and Avery Dennision are trend-setters in this area and expect some new investments within the first years of the new decade.

As far as press and postpress equipment, India could become a hub for the manufacture of appropriately smaller and lighter machinery, which is modularly expandable. This trend which is also apparent in manufacturers such as Oystar Hassia, could make the country a leader in these segments in the same way as the country has become a hub for small car manufacture.

My last prediction is that ten Indian packaging companies will acheive a turnover of Rs 500 crore in the next decade. Even twenty companies could achieve this figure but that is a bit of a challenge. According to one of my converter friends, the real challenge is to achieve a turnover of Rs 1000 crore (US$ 250 million). A real challenge but possible.

— Naresh Khanna, editor@ippgroup.in

Hunkeler Innovationdays 2011, Lucerne, Switzerland

From 14 to 17 February 2011, the world of digital printing and paper processing will meet in Lucerne, Switzerland for the Hunkeler Innovationdays 2011. Founded by Hunkeler, this biennial trade show will be taking place for the ninth time. Once again, the leading digital press, finishing and binding, software and consumable suppliers will be present with some world premieres and the Doxnet conference

The wonderful thing about the Hunkeler Innovationdays is that the exhibition does not waste money on frills and decoration, and in the past there have only been three sizes of stands – very small, less small and small. The atmosphere is unusually relaxed. As the organisers say -- “The focus is not on individual products but on holistic production systems with real practical relevance. This special-interest event revolves around paper processing and digital printing and offers a platform for information and networking with a defined framework. The visitor profile of the past years clearly reflects the growing interest that conventional offset printing houses take in digital print processes. Increasingly, investment projects focus on such solutions.”

You can find out more at www.hunkeler.com or in India contact Arun Gandhi at +91- 9811088878.

The real label story is hot enough!

For high-end label press installs, to grow from about 25 to almost 40 in the current financial year financial year (April 1, 2010-March 31, 2011) is frankly quite amazing. We are talking about presses from Gallus, Nilpeter, MPS, GiDue and Mark Andy and there is every indication that our numbers will hold up on the basis of presses already installed and those in the pipeline.

Within seven kilometres of our office in Noida a new Mark Andy and a new Nilpeter have been installed. While some printers are still going in for their first label press and other for a second there are now as many as thirty label printers in India who are adding their their third and fourth machines. The Belgian company Reynders is installing its second Gallus in Bhiwadi, not far behind what their plans were when we visited them last year. A leading label supplier in Kolkatta is installing his third high-end lable press. Wintek in Bengaluru is installing its fourth Gallus. North India has done well in the past six months with several Gallus, Nilpeter and Mark Andy installs. Label presses are in the pipeline in the West and the South as well. In addition the multiple sales of both HP and Xeikon digital presses have surprised us.

— Naresh Khanna

Showtime — Is there a need for exaggeration?

According to Roger Pellow in his presentations at the recent road shows in Chennai, Mumbai and Ludhiana, Indian label printers are buying 140 to147 new presses this financial year (April 1, 2010-March 31, 2011). Industry experts and insiders, including some who are successfully battling each day to sell machines, pointed out to the Tarsus organisers that these numbers are neither correct nor realistic. Some of them even pointed to the IppStar update published in the July-August 2010 issue of this magazine titled ‘Label press installations in India.’

We think that IppStar's more modest figures of almost a hundred new label presses, including a 50% growth in high-end presses to 40 machines, is both credible and creditable. There is no need for exaggeration. Readers wishing to read the entire article can refer to http://www.packagingsouthasia.com/news/Label_press_installations_1377.html

Poll on print demand

There is a poll on the homepage of our website: www.indianprinterpublisher.com

Are you expecting a pick up in print demand in the 2010-2011 financial year? The results so far are:

Yes = 63%

No = 23%

Growth as usual = 14%

Go ahead and log on and vote! If you have something more to add, you can send me an email. You can also comment on-line on the Print Asia blog which is also accessible from the home page.

— Naresh Khanna

The big print and stationery buyers

IppStar has been looking at just the print and stationery expense of the biggest companies operating in India. One of our lists of the 50 largest spenders on print and stationary include 32 banks while the other big spenders include telecom, construction, pharma and healthcare, and oil, steel and paints.

In the 2008-09 financial year, the top fifty companies spent Rs 1,600 crore on print and stationery. In 2009-10, the top fifty print and stationery buying companies together spent Rs 1,670 crore. This represents an increase of 4 per cent in what can only be called an ordinary year for the economy. Keep in mind, that this figure only represents their in-house and operational print needs and does not include what these companies spent on print advertising, marketing promotion or packaging.

KM Mathew

In the early 1980’s I met KM Mathew who tried me out as a print consultant when Malayala Manorama was in the midst of changing over to offset and installing Cruseot-Loire web presses with 4-colour satellites at all its centres. In those days it was just Kottayam, Kochi-Ernakulaum, Kozhikode and possibly Palghat if I am not mistaken. My experience with Manorama over those fifteen months bears out what TJS George writes in the appreciation of Mathew that he has kindly allowed us to publish on page 14.

George writes that KM Mathew was both adaptable and an instigator of change. He always thought of the bigger picture — about publishing change, development and growth not only for his own publications but also of at the very least, Kerala as a whole. When I suggested that with computerised typesetting becoming available there was room for new Malayalam typefaces, he readily agreed to sponsor Malayalam font design work by Mahendra Patel at the National Institute of Design. Malayala Manorama gave a project fee to NID, but typically with the provision that the new font would not be exclusively for its own publications but for all publishers.

At one point during my work at Manorama, a technical seminar was organised to discuss new developments in newspaper technology and offset printing. Again, the mini-conference included editorial and production invitees from many of the daily publishers in Kerala. This event took place in Manorama’s conference room in Kottayam — in spite of the enormous rivalry between Kerala’s daily newspapers.

I have fond memories of both KM Mathew and also his wife Annamma Mathew who took me over to the Vanitha building for a session with her young colleagues. Hearing that I fancied myself a cook, she gave me copies of all her cookbooks — the recipes had been tested by Vasu who looked after me well at the Manorama guest house!

I remember one evening at KM Mathew’s house in Kottayam — particularly for KM Mathew’s easy conversation and his sense of humour. Since I had been to each of his son’s homes in various cities of Kerala, to put me at ease he made a joke about their similar taste in furniture. I could only smile but it was wonderful to be able to get on with the two of them, as it has been to experience the graciousness and generosity of the entire Manorama family.

While packaging is hot in India the urban infrastructure is not

In the last six months we have been basking in the heat exuded by the continuous investment by India’s packaging industry entrepreneurs. The building of large purpose built plants outside the cities and the purchase of not only brand new high capacity machinery but also of high level quality and inspection systems which were and are still considered by some to be luxuries. In other words, the new expansion projects have gone beyond immediate necessity and have entered the realm of what is desirable to compete globally.

My second observation is that when one travels to these new plants in various parts of the country and often through the rubble of new highways, overpasses and metros under construction, it is clear that the urban infrastructure is far behind.

A recent study by David Caploe, the chief political economist at www.economywatch.com highlights both the potential gold mine that is urbanisation in China and India and the underinvestment by India in its cities. Caploe estimates that urban households in India could increase seven-fold to 89 million by 2025 and the markets to benefit most would most likely be transportation and communications, food and health care, followed by housing and utilities, recreation, and education.

Caploe also says, “India has underinvested in its cities; China has invested ahead of demand, and given its cities the freedom to raise substantial investment resources by monetizing land assets and retaining a 25% of share of value added taxes. While India spends US$ 17 per capita on capital investments in urban infrastructure annually, China spends US$ 116. India has devolved little real power and accountability to its cities, but China’s major cities enjoy the same status as provinces and have powerful political appointees as mayors. While India’s urban planning system has failed to address the competing demands for space, China has a mature urban-planning regime — emphasising the systematic development of run-down areas — consistent with long-range plans for land-use, housing and transportation. The starkest contrast between the two countries is that China has embraced and shaped urbanisation, while India is still waking up to its urban reality and the opportunities.”

Of course much of rural India would argue that there is no investment in the rural infrastructure and that the cities already have a much larger and disproportionate share. We thus enter the realm of politics. And although one does not have to buy Caploe’s thesis one has to answer it with some serious investigation of the facts — and a plan. Plans that are both visionary and detailed, let alone with some element of time frames.

Naresh Khanna

Commercial printers and digital print

“We offset printers will have to install a digital press within the next few years come what may . . . The decision to go in for a digital solution is not one of choice — it is more of a compulsion” — Amit Tara, Tara Art Printers

Some of the vendors of digital presses may be frustrated by the slow pace of Indian commercial printers buying digital presses. It is true that to some extent commercial printers are pre-occupied with other issues such as the intense competition over printing rates, or building new plants and buying more presses and postpress equipment. However there are many printers who have bought digital presses, and they are quite frank that this is necessity. One forward looking commercial printer in Pune who has a relatively small digital press in addition to his new 4-colour offset, in fact says that it is a profitable activity and extremely advantageous. For instance he is able to produce a short run of auto maintenance manuals for just 60 to 70 dealers around the country.

We met another printer last week who does a lot digital printing for offset clients who need copies yesterday and for those who need advance copies before the entire offset run can be printed and finished. This printer also no longer proofs on a colour managed ink jet. Instead he simply gets a high quality digital output of the entire job. Right now digital print is outsourced but this does not seem to be a challenge. He does not believe that offset is viable below 2 or 3 hundred copies.

Another young printer friend of ours, Amit Tara is quite outspoken about the need for digital printing. In his comment he shares many of the beliefs of Indian offset printers whose investments in heavy metal have generally been remarkable both for their ROI and also for their very gradual market depreciation. He says, “In-spite of all the hype about digital you will see only a handful of people going for digital. The moment the system gets installed in your premises it has zero value in the market. And considering it is more electronic equipment and less mechanical there is a preference to buy first hand . . . Then when you compare it with capital equipment [such as an offset press], which you can resell for as much as 50 per cent of its initial value even after 10 years and after having recovered the cost from it, it is quite a comedown.”

He goes on to say, “We offset printers will have to install a digital press within the next few years come what may. We cannot afford to say no to a customer who is getting their 5,000 monthlies printed from us when they come to us for 200 hundred invites, and neither can we always afford to go to another quick print shop. Printers will not go to another printer for prepress work, instead they will go to a prepress bureau. Similarly offset printers will not like to send their regular customers’ short run jobs to other printers. The decision to go in for a digital solution is not one of choice – it is more of a compulsion. An offset printer will be very successful because he can decide what will be more suitable for each customer and job or even part of a job. To outsource these digital jobs when we know the margins these digital printers enjoy and are charging us, is just not palatable to us.”

-- Naresh Khanna

The price of print

I don’t remember reading an article as many times as I read the article by Sunita Paul ‘The birth and death of a small printing press’ — Indian Printer and Publisher, May 2010. This is something that I have thought about a million times and maybe more — it brings to mind what larger printers sometimes fearfully discuss — Where is this industry heading?

I also often wonder if printers are expected to be magicians – but on second thought, they actually are — to be able to continue working at the same or lower prices — when the cost of all inputs have risen many-fold over the years. This can only be magic.

I remember the time I joined the printing industry in the early 90’s — the competition was there but it would be considered healthy, unlike the dog eat dog industry of today. There are so many times that we sit down and analyse a cost sheet of a lost project bid, only to realize the prices that some companies charge are just enough to cover the costs. I wonder then, why run a business at all? Isn’t profit the motive of any business? For any business to stay healthy it has to be able to make enough money to sustain and grow in the medium to long term, or the business will have to wind up sooner than later.

I often wonder if printers believe that the machinery that they use has an unlimited life and the machine will last forever. Wish that were true. Every asset has a limited life, after which it needs to be replaced. What will happen when the time comes to replace the machinery – would the business have made enough money to be able to invest in a new machine?

As a company we work for some large international customers and very often they ask for a breakup of major components that make up the bulk of the cost and I remember asking a customer once, why was it important for them to see the cost sheet when all that mattered was the final price? To which came the reply that they were interested in suppliers who could continue to give them service year after year and if the supplier was not making adequate money he would not be there in the long run to service them, and this was not in their interest. A lot of time and effort is spent in building a stable team of suppliers and good companies do not wish to incur the cost associated with this over and over again. This is radically different from many of our local customers – who are only interested in the final price and not how it was derived.

Minimum wages were revised recently in Delhi by perhaps one of the largest single percentage increases ever. In any printing company about 70 per cent of the work force falls into the minimum wage category which means that there would be a very significant impact on the cost but when I wrote to customers where we have scales in place to reconsider prices — prompt came the reply: No one else was asking for it, and were we not aware that paper prices were at a all time high and that it was impossible to pay the existing rates – an increase was not even a possibility. In fact one customer even went on to say that he has been asked by his management to bring the cost down of books by 15 per cent, even while paper prices have gone up significantly — which meant that he was planning to renegotiate the rates!

Many printers do not even understand their costs — which I believe is the primary problem. Without understanding the costs they make losses for themselves and also create unhealthy competition in the long run. Unless printers correct this, we might have many more printers going out of business.

— Ravi Shroff, Nutech Print Services, New Delhi

The opportunity and the challenge

Ipex clearly showed three things: the rise of digital printing and decline of offset printing in most of the developed economies; the continuous increase in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America of both print consumption and the manufacture of printing equipment and consumables; and lastly, that trade shows in the developed markets need to change.

Ipex was hardly over before many manufacturers made a beeline for Beijing where the China International Packaging Fair from 2 to 4 June was a huge success. KBA mentions both Ipex in end-May and the Beijing event in beginning-June in the same breath, while recounting its success this year — it has sold 20 large-format presses to book and packaging printers in China alone. The PrintExpo in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 23 to 29 June 2010 also promises to be a successful event in a region with print growth and increasing equipment manufacture.

We believe that shows such as Ipex and drupa will now come under increased pressure because in these regions they can be replaced by less expensive digital printing events. The heavy metal shows will gradually move to Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Chinese government-supported industry understands this, and their show platforms have as much focus as their equipment and consumable manufacturers. For the Indian print industry too, there is a great opportunity and a challenge to upgrade our manufacture, to increase local market share with quality equipment, to export, and to cooperate in building respectable show platforms.

— Naresh Khanna

Interesting times for print

It’s been just a couple of days but it has been interesting. As the jet lag wears off and one starts to get a sense of what is on offer from the manufacturers that have mostly brought their stuff to the show it is clear that there is a huge competitiveness out there. For the big guys who have traditionally financed these shows and wined and dined printers to sell their expensive heavy metal dream machines, the day of reckoning is near – they are not likely to make it to the next drupa in their current form. Recovery or no recovery.

Gerd Finkbeiner ceo of manroland at the company press conference and 3D demo at Ipex2010 Photo: Fayez Ali

The part of the world that is still interested in print on paper and that is desperately hungry for more of it -- Asia, Africa and Latin America -- is far more rational about it than the developed world has been since after the second World War. The constant over-consumption of everything -- oil, forests, automobiles, food and even print -- has led to the current information obesity and the creation of huge disparities within these societies. It never made sense to have huge publishing industries that were based on overproduction and tax write-offs – magazines with huge overruns for distribution on a sale and return basis or paperbacks in excess quantities that ultimately needed to be pulped or thrown into the sea.

The logic was that it had to be big – you had to borrow more to buy more and to waste more and to drive up the price of the best things – if you wanted to grow and enjoy the good things in life. That logic worked for the banks who were happy to finance printers at low interest rates and even for the manufacturers who were happy to trade in your old press as long as you were willing to buy one that was twice as big and twice as fast and twice as automated. Well, that logic is being defeated and not by any upheaval but simply by the reality of the world as it is. In the developed world, taxpayers no longer want to bail out banks and printers no longer want to buy as many automated offset presses.

The emerging economies in general and taken as a whole will never want as many huge automated presses as are needed to keep the leading heavy metal companies alive in their present incarnation. If these manufacturers are not able to provide cheaper presses then printers who are still growing will simply buy the excellent used presses and businesses that are now becoming the discounted property of the banks in Europe and North America. They may even buy the Chinese B3 presses that are on show at Ipex running at 12,000 impressions an hour.

The lectures on cost of ownership, quality and standardization, and even the environment will not help to sell more expensive heavy metal presses. Printers are looking for good machines at rational prices built by workers at sustainable wages that are rational enough so that they do not have to be laid off faster and faster. No more private jets, or cigars and brandy on the top floor.

Demo of Hans Gronhi B3 press at IPEX 2010 Photo: Fayez Ali

However, digital printing is not going to be the main technology in Asia, Africa and Latin America because in these countries there remains a huge hunger and demand for the authority, credibility, accessibility and utility of conventional print on paper. Lengths of runs are increasing as text books are now being produced in full colour on web presses. In India where the education budget is increasing, the fight is not between technologies but that the education Rupee must go into classrooms and textbooks and stationary and not into the pockets of the politicians. However, in the Garden of Eden – California, the governor is busy banning textbooks in favour of eBooks. How can this happen in a state that proudly spent half of its budget on education in the 1960’s and gave rise to the Silicon Valley?

While digital printing may not be the main printing technology in Asia, it is already being used more creatively than in the so-called advanced countries. How many people know that the largest real and democratic electoral exercise in the world benefited from having digitally printed voters lists with the photograph of each voter next to his/her name in every polling booth? That’s right, fifteen copies of up-to-date lists in several languages both so that one could vote easily and so that the candidate’s agents could contest any attempt at impersonation or false voting. More than four hundred million voters, with a turnout of over 65 per cent who used electronic voting machines. In the next election, I am hoping to see my photo on the list in colour. The digital press manufacturers need to get their act together. The next milestone for digital printing is not drupa; it is the next election in India and in a parliamentary democracy this can happen as unexpectedly as your next volcanic event.

The point is that digital printing may be used by creative and rational people for democratic, interesting and useful purposes and not merely to invade privacy and sell people more stuff so that they can also ultimately have a consumptive and unprincipled “way of life” that monopolizes resources that they can fight wars for.

Asia will benefit hugely from the mix of traditional and digital print and media. It has the advantage of looking at the technology when it finally works and when there is competition between the developers to make it more relevant and cheaper. The technology is also more tractable – in its portability and flexibility. There is a field retrofit upgrade path in almost every new digital press being talked about at Ipex – it’s a question of software or more and better ink jet heads being added to or replacing the earlier array. The only issue is that of generating useful products and this is where the knowledge societies, rich in software talent, will have to come up with some entrepreneurial software. -- Naresh Khanna

How many Indians will really go to Ipex next week?

Eleven hundred Indians attended the last Ipex according to the organisers, IIR. Also according to the organisers more than 2,000 Indians have registered on-line for the fair this time. However on the basis of our talks with some of the printers and manufacturer’s Association’s that are involved in the group tours, it is expected that about 600 to 700 will attend the fair this time. Several of the tour groups are as small as 25 to 30 and one is claiming 150. Our own estimate is that the total figure of Indians at Ipex including exhibitors and agents and printer visitors and the strong media contingent would be between 625 and 800 this time.

The poll Ipex poll on our website has not really attracted much traffic. Of the valid responses (we have taken out the repeats from the IP address) almost 71 per cent say they will attend while just over 15 per cent say they won’t with almost 4 per cent in the may be category. As we have been writing over the past year, exhibitions everywhere are under intense pressure and while one view is that they are a great opportunity to learn (a view that we agree with) the other view is that they are losing some of their importance. This is echoed by almost 10 per cent of the respondents to our poll.

Improved and specialised exhibitions in India and elsewhere are slowly eroding the importance of the big international exhibitions. The print industry’s precipitous decline in the developed countries has not helped either with many exhibitors scaling down their effort by not showing running machines which was the hallmark of the big print exhibitions. ‘Perfect competition’ and consolidation are in the air.

Ipex was the largest English language print show but now the largest English speaking print industry in terms of business units (not yet in turnover) is in India and thus Indian industry is presented with an opportunity to replace Ipex if they dare to get their act together. Unfortunately the likelihood of this is not too great judging from the present situation and level of discussion between the AIFMP and IPAMA the printers and manufacturer’s associations respectively. We are still in the clutches of the three-cornered blame game – quasi-government organisations, associations at loggerheads and private organisers.

Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one. – A J Leibling

As I recall from a media debate in New Delhi a few years ago, Vinod Mehta, the editor of Outlook said, “Newspaper owners often have three ambitions: fame, power and wealth. However it is almost impossible for them to achieve all three – they must choose, and in my estimation at most they may achieve two out of these three ambitions.”

There is righteousness and there is self-righteousness in every newspaper industry. While in much of the world the emperor is now naked, in the world’s largest democracy with the second-largest daily circulation in the world, we still seem to be clinging to our fig leaves. The question is how long can we owner-publisher-editors survive? If we are to grow, to communicate to a new generation, and to write and create new things, surely we need new people, the best people for the job – professionals who are passionate and engaged in the concerns of the day. Why should we expect the new generation of writers or editors to only be concerned about our own passions? And do we not need to grow fast enough to give an opportunity to those in the family who wish to grow the business? Why will they join the business if we do not grow fast enough to use their talent and their hard won qualifications? Is the Columbia School of Journalism merely a finishing school for the sons and daughters of the Indian newspaper owners or a place to train our best young journalists?


Technology versus content
From Frederic Filloux: “Le Figaro’s new facilities are able to address several of its competitors’ printing needs. The most obvious is Le Monde whose printing plant is obsolete and costly to operate (too many people). The two papers now use the same page size (a ‘Berliner’ format), and are produced at a different time of the day. A perfect fit in theory. Mr. Morel [Francis Morel CEO of Le Figaro] denies vehemently having any intentions of harming Le Monde. But there is no need to be a Wharton scholar to see the two torpedoes Le Figaro is firing at its competitor: one is the better looking and cheaper ads, the other a more commercially potent printing plant. At least, ‘Le Fig’ might print the business paper Les Echos and perhaps one of the three free papers.

“But the real potential for Le Figaro’s online revenue lies in the readership duplication rate between print and web. Today, only 20% of the print readers also visit the website, this is quite low when compared to the 30% to 45% its competitors experience. This points to the paper’s generation problem: 42% of Le Figaro’s readers are 60 years-old and above, compared to 27% for the rest of the French press; naturally, the web is expected to rejuvenate its audience. Today, LeFigaro.fr is the #1 newspaper site in France with more than 5 million unique visitors a month (OK, thanks to some questionable measurement tricks). Still, each time 10 web users are gained, this translates into 2 more print readers (along with 10-15 times more revenue per reader on paper side).”1

Marie Benilde writing recently in Le Monde Diplomatique quotes the assessment of a banker at the French National Conference in Strasbourg in 2006: “Journalists are now in the same situation as steel workers in 1970’s : they are destined to disappear, but they don’t know it.” Benilde cites the loss of 2,300 jobs in the French press last year, and about the financial performance of the press last year she adds, “Every national daily in France, apart from the sports daily, L’Equipe, has lost money.”2

The owners of the Indian news dailies are by and large not gamblers. Those who have made large investments in new technology are looking at a sure thing although it could take time. Nevertheless, to use their new and modern capabilities, they will need a huge growth in product and unfortunately they are thus far focussing mostly on their own product which will rarely if ever drive their presses 24/7. The new technology allows for better colour and more diverse offerings in the newspaper package and an integrated approach to new and cross media. The issue for the Indian news or media organisations is one of vision and content. Print is still growing as the most impactful part of the news package in this society but since the demographic is changing, for the news or media organisation of the future, the key issues are vision and imagination. Machinery and new plants can be bought – where will the content and engagement come from?

--Naresh Khanna


1. From A Case Study: Le Figaro’s Advertising Gamble
September 20, 2009 - 11:08 am | Edited by Frédéric Filloux
2. The end of newspapers Le Monde Diplomatique Marie Benilde, English in Hard News, April 2010, New Delhi

A comment on the budget from the packaging industry

A few months ago we met Sanjay Bhatia the MD of Hindustan Tin Works and today we have received his comments about the recent budget presented to the Indian parliament by the Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee.

Sanjay Bhatia, MD, Hindustan Tin Works and Rexam HTW is also the Chairman of the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) and President of the Metal Can Manufacturers Association (MCMA). Mr. Bhatia was also on the Kelkar Committee and is on the current GST task force as well.

The post budget reaction of Mr Sanjay Bhatia:
"Overall it is a good budget because the government has reiterated its commitment towards reduction in fiscal deficit, [its} focus on food sector, [and its] thrust on food processing and reduction of post harvest food wastage. The setting up of five more food parks is indeed welcome and will benefit agro industries in a big way.

"The government has announced a number of social schemes on education, health, infrastructure, clean energy which is appreciated but the important thing in this is to ensure the right delivery system so that the money reaches the target population.

"On Direct Taxes: The reduction in surcharge from 10 – 7.5% will leave more money in the hands of corporates for further investment and growth.

"On Indirect Taxes: Increase in excise duty from 8 % to 10%, increase in duties on petroleum products and overall increase in excise duty having an impact of INR 43,500 crore would have inflationary impact across the board on all goods including consumer goods.

"On one hand, government has announced concessions for infrastructure however increases in the peak rate of excise duty in steel and cement goes against the infrastructure projects. The metal packaging industry would particularly like to express its deep appreciation for accepting its recommendation of increase in excise duty on OTSC Cans which would result into correcting inverted duty structure and help the industry to correct the huge balance lying in Cenvat a/c.

"Overall, it is a most predictable budget with virtually no surprises."