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India's Guttenberg affected by recession

Sivakasi blues
Last Updated 19 November 2018, 09:27 IST
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It was famously called ‘‘Kutty Japan’’ (mini Japan) by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, but Sivakasi's printing business is struggling to maintain its place among the big three industries that had charted the town's glory. The other two -- safety match making and fire cracker business -- still account for about 80 per cent of the country's needs and keep raking in the mullah.

Sivakasi, a small town in Virudhnagar district of Tamil Nadu, and its nearby areas have the largest number of printing presses after Guttenberg in Germany. So, what was it that contributed to the phenomenal growth of printing in Sivakasi? ‘‘History and determination to fight social discrimination,’’ says 80-year-old P Dharmar, former principal of Sivakasi Institute of Printing Technology who has seen the ups and downs of the industry. The relatively small printing establishment he owns prints labels and wrappers for some leading chocolate brands, ice-cream cones, biscuits etc. ‘‘I pay Rs 75,000 as IT a year,'' he says humbly. 

Catalyst of growth

Dharmar was part of a generation which changed the destiny of a community that suffered social discrimination like untouchability. He recalls that the printing industry would not have progressed the way it has without the yeoman services of a Tamil teacher named Reddiar. ‘‘In those days, the upper caste people who owned presses were not ready to supply notebooks and did not admit our children to their schools. So, he collected Rs 10 from his students and started The Nadar press in 1922 with a ruling and binding section and one treadle printing machine,'' he said. It was K S A Arunagiri Nadar, an agent in the press who is credited with the development of the printing industry in Sivakasi. The good quality and moderate charges as well as profitability encouraged the growth of many printing presses in Sivakasi. 

In fact, the 600 -odd printing presses here and around it used to get orders from all over India. In the last 10 years, the number of presses has come down to about 430 including offset and flexo types. The mushrooming of modern presses elsewhere, logistics and technological advancements have affected business here. These presses catered to the massive demand during their heydays and proved to be money spinners which can be gauged by just walking into any printing unit here. One would be wonder-struck by the state-of-the art imported machines installed and that too in large numbers.

 ‘‘The fact that several of these units have as many as 30 offset machines shows the work that they used to get. More than 50,000 workers are engaged in printing and allied industries in Sivakasi,'' says veteran printer P Dharmar. The confidence and trust that the Sivakasi brand enjoys internationally can be gauged from the fact that some foreign companies still outsource finishing and post-printing works to leading printers here. ‘‘The volume of the outsourcing work comes to roughly about Rs 150 crores annually,'' says  Mr A Dhanasekaran, managing director of Safire Industries which leads in printing film posters. According to him, the foreign assignments include printing single colour books, colouring books, puzzle books, stationery and notebooks, calendars, greeting cards, diaries and pictures. The work orders come mostly from Europe and Singapore.

Export business

There may be many who doubt the viability of foreign companies outsourcing post-printing jobs to this remote south Indian town located 80 kilometres south of Madurai. However, for the loyal clients of Sivakasi's presses, their impeccable printing quality, professionalism and cheap labour are too tempting to be substituted. In keeping with state-of-the- art technology, computers and electronics have invaded all facets of printing improving quality and speed of execution. Why, even top security jobs like printing bank cheque books, flight tickets and lottery tickets are undertaken by the leading presses here. The industry is so entrenched and self-reliant that it has spawned a clutch of allied industries like packaging, printing ink manufacturing, poly-printing et all.

The town also has a school of printing technology that produces about 150 candidates who are hired within the country and abroad.

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(Published 13 June 2009, 14:51 IST)

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