PrintWeek Awards 2025: Winners announced; Book of the Night unveiled

The 15th edition of the PrintWeek Awards 2025 celebrated the finest achievements in India’s print, publishing and packaging industry at a grand awards night hosted by Haymarket Media India.

Manipal-based book printing giant Manipal Technologies, a perennial favourite at PrintWeek Awards, took home the coveted PrintWeek Company of the Year during the 15th edition of the PrintWeek Awards, the biggest industry awards for the printing and packaging industry. 

Accepting the Prism, Gautham Pai of Manipal Technologies said, “It’s been a very interesting 25 years. It’s wonderful to see how the entire ecosystem has developed and I’m really excited about the future. Whatever recognition We have received today is because of the team that Manipal has developed over the years with the focus on creating value for all the stakeholders involved and that’s been the primary focus. I think it's a very interesting time. We have a lot of innovation disruption changes all around us and I think being stepped in every day to focus on creating value sustainably is what makes a difference.”

The biggest winners of the evening were Letra Graphix and Brilliant Printers, each taking home three awards across diverse categories. Other key winners included Parksons Packaging, Printmann Group, Parakh Flexipacks, Khetan Corrucase, Replika Press, and Silverpoint Press. CDC Printers was named Factory of the Year, while ITC Packaging and Printing Business earned Customer Service Company of the Year. Prachi Jain from IIT Roorkee was recognised as Student of the Year for her research on scalable bio-based packaging.

This year, 44 awards were given out in 33 categories, highlighting different aspects of printing and packaging, encompassing everything from book printing to label printing to cartons and rigid boxes. There were 12 joint winners, highlighting how print firms are competing with each other to produce print jobs that can impress anybody.

Opening the celebrations, Ashish Bhushan, country head - India, Haymarket Media, the parent company of PrintWeek magazine, said, “We are privileged to be hosting the PrintWeek Awards for the past 15 years. This year, based on feedback from our partners and supporters in the industry, we are tweaking the rule. Under the new rules, we have tapped the expertise and experience in the industry and have three knowledge modules for the benefit of the VIP delegates who attend the show.”

He added, “This year we received entries from more than 100 companies, with over 1,000 print samples. These were meticulously evaluated by a jury of 30+ experts. Across four days, the jury reviewed 306 entries in detail, with book designers, brand specialists and packaging experts weighing in. For me personally, it was a masterclass, an opportunity to see the evolution of an industry that has gone far beyond putting ink on paper. What I saw was an industry raising benchmarks in R&D, in technology, in sustainability and in India.”

His speech was followed by three thought-provoking knowledge sessions interspersed with announcements and felicitations for 32 Awards in three categories — 10 Performance Awards, 19 Quality Awards, and three Special Industry Awards.  

In a first for the Awards, PrintWeek introduced knowledge-sharing sessions as part of the celebration. 

The evening opened with the panel Women Prowess in the Industry, moderated by Vinita Bhatia, featuring Women to Watch 2025 winners — Kaveri Satija, Yashwi Jain, Tania Hansoti, and Nidhi Agrawal. The conversation highlighted how women leaders are redefining efficiency, creativity and innovation in print. Agrawal noted that women must become changemakers and help create a more inclusive ecosystem. The panel collectively agreed that while progress has been gradual, positive transformation is unmistakably underway.

Before the second session, Ramu Ramanathan, editor, PrintWeek and WhatPackaging? magazines unveiled Manu Choudhury’s book titled, The Colour I Approved!, marking a celebratory moment for the publishing fraternity. Manu Choudhury personally signed autographed books at the awards ceremony. 

The second session, All About Books, brought together publishing giants Priya Singh from Hachette India, Ajay Joshi from Penguin Random House, and Dr Amit Sharma HarperCollins India for a candid discussion on the evolution of the book industry from overcoming physical distribution challenges to embracing new digital and hybrid formats. 

The final panel of the evening, The Brand Packaging – Opportunities and Challenges, explored how personalisation, sustainability and scalable innovation are transforming brand packaging in India. Speakers emphasised that while technology enables hyper-personalisation, true success lies in intent, logistics and responsible design. The discussion underscored Design for Recyclability principles, the balance between consumer expectations and environmental goals, and the importance of implementing sustainability at a scalable, demonstrable level.

This was followed by the special unveiling of the Book of the Night by PrintWeek’s Company of the Year, wrapping up the evening in true print-style, along with a gala dinner and networking.