How conventional printers can ride the $4.9 Billion wave of Printed Intelligence
You’ve spent decades mastering ink on paper beautiful boxes, flexible packaging, glossy labels. But the substrate is changing. It’s no longer just about paper and film; it’s about flexible circuits, biosensors, and smart wearables.
Welcome to the world of Printed Electronics. And for the savvy Indian packaging printer, this isn’t science fiction it’s the most logical and lucrative business adjacency you’ll see in this decade.
Why India? Why Now?
The Indian government is on a spending spree to build a local electronics ecosystem. Just last month, the Centre cleared projects worth Rs. 5,532 crore to manufacture components we currently import. They are building the infrastructure for PCBs, laminates, and films.
The demand is exploding because:
Healthcare needs “Make in India”
From glucose test strips to wearable ECG monitors, diagnostics need cheap, disposable sensors. Who prints cheap, disposable items? You do.
Automotive goes Electric
Every new EV in Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra needs battery heaters, interior lighting films, and pressure sensors.
IoT is Everywhere
Smart packaging and connected labels require printed antennas.
The “Adjacency” Advantage
Switching to a silicon chip fab would cost you billions. Switching to Flexible Hybrid Electronics costs a fraction of that.
Why?
Because you already understand the physics of putting wet ink on a roll of material.
The difference?
Instead of printing pretty colors, you’ll be printing conductive traces using silver or graphene inks.
Take the example of Naxnova Technologies.
They recently launched India’s first Flexible Printed Electronics R&D centre. They are taking their legacy in manufacturing and applying it to “smart surfaces” for automotive and aerospace. If they can do it, so can you.
How to Make the Leap (Without Falling)
As a consultant working with printers, I break this transition down into three hard-nosed business moves:
1. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel buy the Technology (via JV)
Look at what Syrma SGS just did. They didn’t spend 20 years trying to figure out Korean manufacturing secrets. They formed an Rs. 1,800 crore Joint Venture with Shinhyup Electronics.
The Indian Partner (You) handles land, labor, regulatory clearance, and understanding of the domestic market.
The Foreign Partner brings the patents, the chemical formulas, and the know-how to print circuits that actually work.
For a mid-sized packaging printer, a JV is the fastest way to acquire Tier-1 technology.
2. Move to Where the Money Is
States are fighting for electronics manufacturers.
Andhra Pradesh just offered Syrma SGS 75% land subsidy to set up a PCB facility.
Tamil Nadu is building entire clusters around Thoothukudi for component manufacturing.
Your consulting job is to shop your client’s project to the highest-bidding state.
3. Pick Your Niche (Don’t boil the ocean)
The market is vast, but you need to start somewhere:
For Healthcare
Start with disposable biosensors. The volume is high, and the unit economics work well for high-speed printing.
For Automotive
Look at printed temperature sensors for EV battery packs.
For Diagnostics
Explore microfluidic layers for lab-on-chip devices.
an article by Pramod Hendre