Packaging in India welcomes inclusivity

A posh presentation by a private bank national manager says, return on capital has been higher than growth entirely because packaging in India is worth one and half times of GDP. The same manager says, packaging is growing since it is no longer the domain of a handful of top players.

05 May 2022 | By Noel D'Cunha & WhatPackaging? Team

So the macro economics news is good.

The other evening, one of the favourite spies who reports to WhatPackaging? magazine was dining at a star hotel in the capital. A very harrowed gent was ordering a platter of kebabs while slurping paya soup along with his family. On cue, the peace and tranquillity was disrupted by his incoming ringtone.

As our spy was minding his own business, the BP on the neighbouring table was shooting up. The very harrowed gent asked on the phone: “Don't let Mr G choose any new machines. If you do so , the company will bleed from day one.”

Nonsense! Mr G knows nothing. You can ask Mr P. You can ask Mr D, too. You know, I worked for Mr G on that pan Indian project in 2005. 12 presses and 18 finishing lines, till the day I quit. I could not work with him ... Naturally, I wish him well ... But ask him the status of all his projects ... Did you know, the gravure install had a huge problem ... He got his own team of senior production staff, plus engineers, contractors and installers ... It was a massive cash drain ... What I am trying to say to you is, everything starts from installation and the kit is not working ... After installation you can plan who should man your machines. Or else your entire time will go in trying to fix the problems day and night.”

Our spy informs WhatPackaging? that the conversation grew louder even as the kebabs went colder.

Meanwhile, our spy learnt, “the maintenance budget was scrapped”. And our friend on the phone was saying: “As a manager, Virat Kohli could play the hand he had been dealt. The supplier dealt a bad hand. And even a full order book could not be salvaged.”

That was that.

Besides being a case of blame game; the saga of failed investment; plus a tale of caution about our industry, it was also the case of a family dinner gone horribly wrong!

When the birthday cake of his 22 year old daughter arrived, no one was in a mood to celebrate. On his way out, our spy wanted to compliment the crestfallen young daughter for being admitted to the Computational Biology Department of CMU in the USA. But the dreaded phone rang, once again. Our spy exited.