A major deterrent to Indian printing industry!

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has recently released an office memorandum on Economy Instructions – Printing Activities. The memorandum states, “The Government of India has decided that there will be no further activities towards printing wall calendars, desktop calendars, diaries, festival greeting cards and similar materials by all Ministries/Departments/Autonomous Bodies and other organs of the Government. All such activities including materials which were earlier printed in physical format shall be done digitally online. The printing of coffee table books is also banned and appropriate use of e-books is encouraged.”

This will have a serious impact on not just the suppliers for government printing needs, but also the printers, plate manufacturers/suppliers, ink manufacturers/suppliers and paper manufacturers/suppliers. The industry is already reeling under pressure due to the prevailing COVID-19 threat. This order is a deterrent for the overall printing industry. This cutting on government expenditure on printing items will have a serious impact on employment in the printing industry and the Indian economy.