Print is in the air @ DSIDC Complex Kirti Nagar

By Print & Publishing Last updated Aug 2, 2018

On our quest to explore wonderful aisles of print world, we recently visited DSIIDC Packaging Complex in Kirti Nagar and were impressed with its infrastructure and host of people diligently working in the printing industry. Here’s more on this well-maintained and organised printing hub.

Delhi, being the capital, epitomises the entire nation. Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (DSIIDC) has played a key role in propelling the development of Delhi by shaping up the Indian capital, a city of millions of people. Since it was established in February 1971, DSIIDC has projected, aided, counselled, assisted, financed and promoted projects to transform the face of Delhi. The various complexes that have been made under its aegis have been remarkable. Amongst all, the best one is DSIIDC Complex; Kirti Nagar, which is also one of the most fascinating printing & packaging hub of Delhi.

DSIIDC complex…

clean and user-friendly One thing that makes the DSIIDC Complex Kirti Nagar stand apart is cleanliness and greenery. As soon as anybody enters the place, it gives a nice feeling unlike most of the other industrial complexes. Established in 1998, it is well placed in the heart of the city.

This packaging complex is divided into four blocks – A, B, C and D. Most of the complex area is under CCTV surveillance and there’s a security check at the entrance gate as well. Moreover, it is also constructed in a way that is friendly for the occupants to ferry their materials as the roads inside are cemented. There are no stairs, only leveled elevated pathways to different floors, which is also a great help for taking heavy materials like papers bundles, raw materials, cartons, machinery on the trolleys and similarly sending back supplies to the ground floor for transportation.

The workers also feel happy with the safe and secure environment within the complex. The printing and packaging hub This complex boasts of every form of print and packaging organisations; there are offset printers, pre-press service providers, packaging professionals, digital printers, publishers, post press service providers, etc. The best thing is that they all co-exist in a wonderful harmony as most of them share their jobs to finish and supply on time.

People we met…

We met many print enthusiasts like Bal Krishan, president, DSIIDC Complex Association and MD, Memory Repro Systems; Rohit Makol (Jay Kay Art Press), Deepak Arora (Arora Printers), Deepak (RD Printers), Vikram Vij (ATM Print ‘O’ Pack), Ardeep Singh (TS Graphic Prints), AK Nangia (SAAR Printers), Sanjay Sagar (BVM Prints), Vasant Mehta/Ajay Mehta (Rita Book Binding), Salil Sagar (Guide Offset Printers), Rajeev Arora (Goodluck Process), Anurag (DI Concepts), Sourave Sharma (Print City), Vivek Sharma (Shree Radhey Colour Scan), Om Narander Vij (Vij Laminator), Ashok Kumar (Ashok & Company), Pradeep Sharma (Print Aid), Vikram Sabherwal (Navrattan Enterprises), Anju & Sunil Chadha (Monika Printers), Vijay Mehta (VM Sharpping House), Dalip Arora (Sagar Packers), Vaneet Chhabra (Indomax & Co), Amit Khanna (Innomax Communications), Vinay Malhotra (Malhotra Publishing House), Sumeet Chawla (Apex Laser Die Solutions), Jai Prakash Sharma (Newstech India), Sahil (Matrix), Bhartiya Rattan Publishing House, Chankya Mudrak, HS Malhotra (AM Board Products), amongst others and here’s what they share about their business.

Pre-press segment…

Rajeev Arora (Goodluck Process) started a prepress house in Paharganj area and later shifted to this DSIIDC complex. They have fully equipped set up including CtP/ CtcP, Imagesetters, etc and keep themselves occupied round the year. On asking about clientele, Rajeev shared, “The 30 percent of our jobs comes from DSIIDC Complex clients, while 70 percent from outside. Our clients are 100 percent loyal to us.” On asking about expansion plans, he shared that they are about to open a new unit in Naraina. Sharing the reasons to shift to DSIIDC Complex, he revealed, “This is a very good area with no parking issues. Most of our clients and suppliers are located within vicinity making this place ideal for our business.”

While, HS Malhotra (AM Board Products) shifted almost ten years ago and is very happy to operate from here, “We are leading pre-press house of north India providing high quality photo polymer plates for both flexo and letter press printers. We have supplies all over India. We also have good overseas clients like in Nepal, Australia, USA, Sri Lanka, etc.”

Press segment…

Rohit Makol (Jay Kay Art Press) has been in the printing and packaging business for a short time ago. They were exporters of corrugated boxes and tags and in 2004, they shifted to Kirti Nagar as there was municipal sealing happening in Ramesh Nagar, and it was nearest to that place.

They take pride in the fact that most of their clients are with them since the beginning and are 100 percent satisfied. Having wellequipped set up, they have 5-colour and 2-colour machines which are running with 60 percent capacity round the year. In terms of expansion, they are planning to install 5-colour machine.

Deepak Arora (Arora Printers – a house of diaries) started their venture from old Delhi and shifted to this complex in the year 2000. They wanted to shift to an organised place where facilities were good and this complex was first choice. Deepak shared that they are the top seller in exclusive corporate diaries in Delhi and produce best quality products. Most of their job is high-end annual diaries, which are always in demand by corporates.

Ardeep Singh (TS Graphic Prints) specialises in all types of screen UV printing, paper bags, non woven bags, glittering printing, etc. Then, there is Bhartiya Rattan Publishing House, offset printing service provider, which deals in all sorts of print jobs and BVM Prints is a leading provider of advertising, promotions and events in Delhi NCR.

Salil Sagar (Guide Offset Printers) is amongst one of the premier commercial printers in this DSIIDC Complex. They shifted here in 2003, and the main reason was a requirement of big spacious facility to expand. Another reason was to be in the industrial area. They have one 4-colour and single colour offset machines. They have 70 percent capacity utilisation round the year. On asking about expansion plans, he said that

Press segment…

Value additions…

Vikram Vij (ATM Print ‘O’ Pack) is a leading provider of printing services and accessories, they specialise in UV coating, (Spot-Full), lamination, thermal lamination, aqueous coating, leaf printing on automatic machines. Vikram also feels great to be part of this complex.

Post press segment…

Vasant Mehta and Ajay Mehta of Rita Book Binding – specialist in book work, calendars, pharmaceutical visual aids, spiral, spico and wiro binding and hard case binding shared their views on the importance of binding for any print job and added, “Any book printed with a world-class quality, will not last long, if it is not bound well. And the irony of being a binder is that everyone wants to cut at our cost only, be it printer, publisher or an end user.” They are amongst the best binders in Delhi NCR region and feel proud to cater all top publishers and printers. Started in 1996 from Naraina, they shifted to Kirti Nagar in 1998. With a humble start of taking contract job, today they have fully equipped set up with all modern machines for folding, cutting and sewing. He shared that he is happy with the growth they are getting and will remain in the same field as both his sons are already into the family business and doing well.

Dalip Arora (Sagar Packers) specialises in book work, hard case binding, perfect binding, spiral, wiro and calendar binding.

He is an active member of the Kirti Nagar DSIIDC Complex Association. There was no government agency to look after the internal issues like street lights, greenery, security and cleanliness of the complex. To look after these, the association was formed in the year 2000. Explaining the role of association, he shared, “We are taking all the important issues and problems to the concerned government agencies. Be it property tax or borewell registration, we are making things easier for our members.”

DSIIDC Complex is so well maintained that Delhi government is setting up more such complexes with Kirti Nagar as a role model.

Publishing…

Vinay Malhotra (Malhotra Publishing House), perhaps the only publisher within the complex is amongst early birds, who shifted to this complex. They started from Vikas Puri and shifted here as this place was meant only for printing and packaging companies. They specialise in offset printing and agricultural publishing. “We mainly cater to overseas clients in South East Asia. We specialise in event and conference print jobs. Till now, we have published around 40 titles in agricultural segment.”

Being in a printing industry for 25 years now and having average working hours of 14-18 hours a day, he feels that his next generation is not keen to join him. “My father RN Malhotra was a national award winning printer and he started his printing venture in 1940. And after being in printing for many years, we took up publishing as well,” he informed.

Being a member of executive body of DSIIDC Complex Association, Kirti Nagar, he is responsible for all the greenery that is spread all over the complex. “I am here since the inception and have seen this place growing. As it is said that there’s always a scope for improvement, so we are trying our best to improve this place for better,” he shared.

Digital printing…

Chanakya Mudrak Pvt Ltd, with more than 28 years of experience in the printing and graphic arts industry has always viewed printing with passion and dedication, be it in the area of quality or commitment. In pursuance of excellence they felt the need to diversify and became one of the firsts and also the most experienced digital offset print house in India.

“For the past six years we have successfully completed projects involving almost all types of techniques and substrates, from metallic to textured substrates to Tyvek paper. Digital printing results are now the closest to those from conventional offset printing with an unbelievable accuracy! To maintain the highest standards we retain trained professionals to handle our state-ofthe- art equipment who take uncompromising care at every step ensure four-stage quality check to get optimum quality with an eye on affordability,” told Inder Kumar Arora, director, Chanakya Mudrak Pvt Ltd.

“We have an expertise in paper printing and all our products are generally paper based. Our state-of-the-art finishing and special effects called “snowing” (Scodix technology) can add phenomenal value to marketing collateral and printed products. It is an all new technology introduced for the first time in Delhi by Chanakya Mudrak!” he shared.

“Not only are we one of the first users of an HP Indigo Digital Offset printing machine in Northern India, but also one of the most experienced one. We are exclusively into B2B printing. Our range of products varies from printed items as small as business cards to coffee table books, and as different as Marathon BIBs to Braille Calendars,” he added.

Screen printing…

Pradeep Sharma (Printaid) specialises in screen printing, sheet to sheet pasting, window patching and scratch printing. They had started in the year 2005 as screen printer. All the work is being executed manually. Their clients are based within DSIIDC Complex. On asking relationship with the clients, he added, “Our relationship with all our clients is quite good. Most of our orders are repeat orders.” They have no expansion plans on the cards as he is happy being a screen printer.

Sunil Chadha (Monika Printers) deals in screen printing, die-cutting, lamination, thermal lamination, fully automatic UV, spot UV, aqueous/matt/scrub varnish. They shifted from Paschim Vihar due to Delhi government’s sealing drive. This place is best suited to them to cater to existing clients and manage cordial relationship with suppliers as well. They are looking for other printing related fields for expansion.

Suppliers…

Jai Prakash Sharma (Newstech India) feels good to be operational from Kirti Nagar complex as their business associates are easily approachable. Newstech with headquarter in Mumbai is the one stop destination for state-of-the-art equipment —pre-press, press and post press, with compatible consumables – plates, chemicals and blankets—for newspaper production.

Vaneet Chhabra (Indomax & Co – a manufacturer and supplier of packaging materials) is executive member of DSIIDC Complex Association. They shifted to this place in the very beginning. Prior to this, they were operating from a rented facility, but later purchased this one here.

Around 90 percent of their clients are based in DSIIDC and he is happy with the results and the business he is getting at the moment. On asking future plans, he shared, “Competition is ever growing in this industry. Automation and innovation are keywords for everyone in this industry who wants to grow and expand their operations. The working area for us as of now offer limited space so to expand we need to move out of this place.”

Sumeet Chawla (Apex Laser Die Solutions), on talking about DSIIDC Packaging Complex shared that it is a nice industrial place with ample parking, green surroundings and peaceful atmosphere. “This is one of the reasons which pull walk-in clients to the printers here,” he said.

Ahmedabad based Shilp Gravure has a representative office in this complex. They are engaged in engraved copper rollers, anilox rollers, etc.

While, Reprographic Systems and Supplies, with head office in Chennai, have branch office in B block of this packaging complex. They deal in quality consumables for press, pre-press, post press apart from quality control equipments.

In block ‘D’ Memory Repro Systems has grown with the notion of doing the right job every time. “We have earned a reputation for offering quality pre-press and post-press equipment and consumables, as a result of continuous investing in technology and human potential. Our ever expanding service network also acts as a benefit to clients, with timely assistance,” Bal Krishan shared. Memory Repro has a manufacturing facility in Mundka Industrial Area in west Delhi, with a sales office in this packaging complex. However they do execute some of their offerings right from here.

“We are key players in the Indian printing industry since 1974. Our specialisation encompasses designing, manufacturing, and installing pre-press and post-press equipment and supplying consumables. Our products are marketed under the brand MEMORY.

To keep pace with the rapid changes in the printing and packaging industry, we have invested significantly in technology, training and services. We offer our customers expert assistance and make every effort to deliver the best products and services. It is our belief that strong relations with customers will enable us to move forward, meeting the challenges of future,” he added.

Further elaborating his role as association’s president of DSIIDC complex, he narrated, “We are working on many things to make this complex better. This include, complete CCTV monitoring; big and more lighting; security and single gate entry for all. Besides, one important aspect is to get the area converted as freehold. We also hold Annual General Meetings (AGM), where we discuss all small and big issues and concerns on one-on-one basis.”

Col (Retd) PK Aggarwal of Quality Color Offset is amongst few persons, who are responsible for every positive change that has happened at DSIIDC Packaging Complex. He holds the portfolio of the secretary of the DSIIDC Kirti Nagar Association for last 15 years. On asking about his journey from army personnel to a printer, he added, “I retired in 1991 from army and started this business as it was a family business and know-how was available already. God has really been kind to me and having engaged in printing and packaging segment, I am feeling very comfortable and as such not looking for more clients.”

He shifted to this complex in 1999, to set up an individual unit and this complex was best choice at that time. On asking about the complex he added, “This complex was created in front of my eyes. I was the person, who started all the developments. Greenery, seen today is also my initiative, I used to carry saplings from nursery to the complex in my car that too with my own money. The association was also started by me, under a tree. And many years have gone, I have grown old, but all inmates still want me to continue as secretary, so that I am involved in all the activities.”

On asking about message he wants to give to the members of this complex he shared, “Cooperate with each other, we live in community and it never works without mutual support.”

DSIIDC Packaging Complex in Kirti Nagar is unique and playing center stage for printing and packaging solutions. A unique feature of the complex is that it also provides an opportunity for companies situated there for being clients to one another. The motto ‘grow and let grow’ seems to be more appropriate and similar kind of complexes/ clusters need to be set up in more cities.