Editor’s Note: The Indian ink industry is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. Ink World examines the state of the Indian ink industry, looking at five of the largest printing ink manufacturers in India.

• DIC India Limited
www.dic.co.in
Manufacturing locations: Noida, Ahmadabad, Saykhya, and Bengaluru
Head office: Noida
DIC India Managing Director and CEO: Manish Bhatia

Starting its journey in the ink industry in 1947 as Coates of India Private Limited, the company came under the umbrella of DIC Corporation, Japan through a global acquisition. DIC India is one of India’s leading supplier of printing inks, laminating adhesives, innovative packaging solutions, and other allied products serving newspapers, magazines, conversion agents, national and international printing and packaging establishments. The company is among select offset ink producers in India having multiple production locations throughout the country.

With five state-of-the-art production facilities spread over the country, the company is one of the largest in printing, publishing, and packaging inks in the country.  DIC India has manufacturing facilities in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat (Ahmedabad) and Karnataka, and caters to a host of sectors, including newspaper, magazines and other printing and packaging establishments.

According to Manish Bhatia, MD and CEO at DIC India,  “India is a strategic market for us and our long standing journey in the country is a testimony to the success we have achieved over the years. The market is witnessing increased demand for technological superior and specialty printing inks for packaging.”

In its most recent major expansion, DIC India inaugurated its new toluene-free plant for liquid ink manufacturing at Saykhya ( state of Gujarat) in March 2023.

Spread across an area of more than 90,000 square meters, the plant has the capacity to manufacture more than 10,000 tons of toluene-free/ketone-free liquid inks (operating in two shifts). The plant will be further augmented to produce value added and specialty products for domestic and export markets.

Set up with a total investment of INR 1100 million (13.3 million USD), this plant aims to serve the growing demand of toluene-free and ketone-free based inks in the country.
 
Established at the center of the chemical hub of India, the strategic location gives the company close access to the Northern and Western markets that drive majority of the demand in the segment.  The plant has been designed to accommodate future expansion needs of the company.

The company had sales revenue of $99 million (INR 8288 million) in 2023.


• Toyo Ink India
www.toyoinkindia.com
Manufacturing locations: Greater Noida, Bharuch
Head Office: Noida
Chairman:  Naotoshi Nakamura

Established in 2007 in Delhi, Toyo Ink India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Japan’s Artience group (formerly Toyo Ink Group), is a leading single-source provider of integrated packaging and printing solutions.

The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of inks, coatings, color materials and other printing solutions for a wide range of industrial markets. Core products include conventional offset inks, UV-curable inks including LED-UV systems, flexographic inks, gravure inks, solvent-free lamination adhesives, inkjet inks, polyurethane resins, color master batches, pressure-sensitive adhesives and many more to come.

In April 2024,  Toyo Ink India confirmed its plans to expand its production capacity for solvent-based adhesives at its Bharuch based production site in Gujarat. The plant is slated to begin operations in April 2026 and will help to boost the company’s adhesive capacity by 3.5 times its current output.

In 2014, Toyo Ink India began importing adhesives from Japan and selling them to the local market for automotive interiors and has over the years expanded applications to home appliances and labels.

In December 2021, a production operation was established in Bharuch, enabling the company to respond to customer needs more promptly and to further grow its business. As demand from these markets grew, the capacity for adhesive production had become tight, leading to the decision to further invest in production to support current and future growth.

According to Naotoshi Nakamura, chairman of Toyo Ink India, “Toyo Ink India is on track to become the top solvent-based adhesive manufacturer in India, with a targeted market share of 30 percent in 2026. In line with the artience group’s global strategy, we are working to expand adhesives applications to the healthcare and other fields, while positioning India as an export hub to the Middle East and Africa, regions where economic growth is expected in the future.”


• Huber Group India Private Limited
www.hubergroup.com
Manufacturing Locations: Vapi, Daman, and Silvassa
Registered corporate office: Vapi, Gujarat
CEO: Suresh Kalra

HIPL is the largest manufacturer of printing inks in India, and it also manufactures the majority of ink intermediates, including adhesives, resins, pigments and flushes, in-house at its manufacturing units located at Vapi, Daman and Silvassa.

HIPL is the market leader in the Indian printing industry with a market share of around 30%.  HIPL’s clientele includes major print media publication houses along with packaging and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India.

HIPL has an installed capacity of 203,000 metric tons per annum (MTPA) for inks, 71,050 MTPA for resins and varnishes and 46,500 MTPA for pigments and flush colors.

Huber entered the Indian ink market in 2005, when it acquired Micro Inks, solidifying its position as a market leader in the Indian print market with a 30 percent share. At the time, compensatory growth in packaging ink was anticipated due to the rise in FMCG and e-commerce industries. This offset volume loss in the printing ink segment after consumers shifted toward digital sources for newspapers.

• Siegwerk India
www.siegwerk.com
Manufacturing location: Bhiwadi
Indian head office: Gurugram
President Asia: Ashish Pradhan

Siegwerk has been operating in India since 2005, when it acquired the business of Swiss major SICPA Holding SA.

The company operates a modern manufacturing facility (a Centre of Excellence and Centre of Competence) for printing inks and coatings located in Bhiwadi in the northern state of Rajasthan.

With a production capacity of 35,000 metric tons and nine blending centres spread across the country, the company has registered sales revenue of INR 7000 million ($84 million) in the 2022-23 financial year. The company’s Bhiwadi manufacturing site is its largest outside Europe.

Siegwerk India, has actively been expanding its presence in flexible packaging, which now contributes about 45% of its revenue as compared to around 10% in the past. It is not only meeting the growing demand of the Indian market where it holds a market share of around 10-15%, but it also serves the South East Asian region.


• Sakata Inx (India) Private Limited
www.sakataindia.com
Manufacturing locations: Bhiwadi and Panoli
Corporate office: Gurugram
Managing director: Vijay Kumar Seth

Sakata Inx (India) Private Limited (formerly known as Sakata Inx (India) Limited) is a 100% subsidiary of Sakata Inx Corporation, Japan. Operating in India since 1998, when the company commenced commercial production of its first plant at Bhiwadi, Sakata Inx (India) operate two production plants in the country.

Initially Bhiwadi facility started producing gravure and flexo inks, followed by offset inks in September 2005. The plant caters to the customer base in North and East India and Export Markets of Bangladesh, Nepal.

Sakata’s second production facility at Panoli (in the state of Gujarat) over an area of 20 acres for gravure and flexo inks in 2009. Coldset ink manufacturing plant was commissioned at Panoli site in 2014.