IIP's national workshop commences today

The two days of the conference, 25-26 February, according to N C Saha, director, IIP, will be a knowledge sharing opportunity for all the stake holders in the pharma packaging. "The packaging industry worldwide is estimated to be worth USD 750 billion and in India it is worth USD 25 billion. Rated 13th under the consumption capacity and second under the growth rate, India is at the brink of accelerating it's growth in packaging."

According to Saha, of this, 65% is food packaging, 20% is pharmaceutical packaging and the remaining is contributed by the cosmetic, personal care and other segments.

Seconding Saha's number crunch were AVPS Chakravarthi, Ecobliss India and S K Ray, senior vice president, Reliance Industries and also chairman of the committee.

According to them, in spite of the growth figures, there is lack of standardisation in the packaging materials.

Chakravarthi, in his presentation, Changing world, packaging innovations - pharmaceutical and healthcare, highlighted how a large number of people are wanting to share limited space at the same point in time and standardisation will be the key.

Another august speaker at the conference, Tripti Nakhare, who gave the audience an FDA perspective on quality and risk management in pharmaceutical packaging. "Each stake holder involved in pharmaceutical packaging, from the converters to the pharma companies to the ink  manufacturers, need to specify and keep a record and regulate the process. Serialisation of the packs, both primary and secondary packaging is important."

The day also saw Dr V G Habbu, Reliance Industries shed light on applications of PET for liquid pharmaceutical formulations, Shilesh Potdar, Parksons Packaging speak about the trends in cartons for pharmaceuticals and Dr Mokashi speak about specialty coatings for pharmaceutical packaging materials.

An audience of 100+ is in attendance at the the conference, a record high, according to Saha.