With massive international investment
on the way, including
major retail chains such
as Tesco and Wal-Mart who are looking
at expanding into India; its booming
middle class of over 300 million
people; the second largest pool of scientists
and engineers in the World; and
a predicted economic growth of nearly
7% over the next five years; India is
certainly the growth area in future of
Packaging Industry, says Rajiv Dhar,
Director Indian Institute of Packaging,
Mumbai, in dialogue with ET Polymers.
Q. How do you see the evolving role of
plastics in packaging, in context of the
retail boom that we are currently witnessing?
Today we can see a variety of products
being packed in plastics. One can see
super markets full with attractively
packed meat, poultry and seafood which
earlier used to be sold by small unhygienic
shops. Customers have the option
to make choices among a host of
brands displayed on the shelf. Today
almost everything is sold in packed form
be it milk, oil, confectionary, beverages
processed food or the surgical and medical
items, consumer goods etc. With this
backdrop plastics will have their role to
play along with the other materials used
for Packaging.
Q. What is your outlook of the packaging
industry in general?
Globalization has brought in the positive
and negative impacts not only on
economy but also on social, cultural,
environmental, employment and many
areas of relevance. With massive international
investment on the way, including
major retail chains such as Tesco and
Wal-Mart who are looking at expanding
into India; its booming middle class
of over 300 million people; the second
largest pool of scientists and engineers
in the World; and a predicted economic
growth of nearly 7% over the next five
years; India is certainly the growth area
in future of Packaging Industry.
Q. Are there any technology barriers
that the Indian industry needs to overcome
to meet the growing packaging
requirement?
In quantitative terms, industry will have
to gear up for supplying larger tonnages
and mass producing technologies,
which is definitely a barrier in certain
industries. For example, in India we
have just a few automatic lines for producing
corrugated boxes. While there
will be a need to set up additional capacities
by each sector, I do see technological
barriers in inspection and control
on line devices, in-house monitoring
and testing devices, control of raw
material, in-process and finished goods
inventories etc. In fact I foresee a need
for ERP systems in some of our Pack
....contd.
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