More than three-quarters of small-, mid-size Indian packaging companies plan to increase their production capacity, but 54.7% say poor infrastructure is a major obstacle, survey finds; 49% expect growth next quarter

Bdebbie Garcia

LOS ANGELES , November 14, 2011 (Industry Intelligence) – More than three-quarters (78.3%) of small- and mid-size packaging companies in India said they plan to expand their production capacity, while 21.7% had no plans, according to a IndiaMART Knowledge Services survey, reported the Business Standard on Nov. 15.

Less than half (49%) of those responding to the survey said that they expect the market to grow next quarter, while 30.1% forecast negative growth and 20.7% called for stable conditions.

However, 63.2% were optimistic about their business prospects in the coming quarter, while 16.9% were pessimistic and 19.8% were neither, the Business Standard reported.

Participating in the survey were packaging companies involved in flexible packaging, glass packaging, liquid cartons packaging, metal packaging, paper-based containers and rigid plastic packaging.

On a question about order books after December 2010, about 31.1% said that theirs had increased by more than 20%, 34% said that they saw anywhere from zero to a 20% increase, 31.1% indicated no change and 4.1% had a decline, reported the Business Standard.

Poor infrastructure was noted by 54.7% of respondents as a major obstacle to growth, but 45.2% did not agree. Financing was cited as a hurdle by 63.2% of participants, but 36.7% did not share this opinion.

Nearly 70% (69.9%) felt that hiring skilled workers was a big challenge, but 33% did not feel that way.

Increasing their workforce was planned by 69.8% of respondents while the remaining participants had no plans. Just 48.1% expected to increase their office network staff n their office, while 51.8% did not, the Business Standard reported.

The primary source of this article is the Business Standard, New Delhi and Mumbai, India, on Nov. 15, 2011.

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