Mumbai: 

 

The Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) held the inauguration ceremony of the newly-constructed Academic Block, International Packaging Center (IPC) and Students’ Hostel within its premises in Andheri (Mumbai) on Saturday (September 29, 2018). The newly constructed premises at the main campus of the Institute at Mumbai will enhance the capabilities of the Institute to boost packaging education and research at par with international standard.

Indian Institute of Packaging is an autonomous body and working under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. It has branches in Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad with headquarters and principal laboratories in Mumbai. In addition, three more branches are to be opened in Bangalore, Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) and Guwahati.

In addition to the inaugural function, the annual convocation programme for the 32nd Batch of Post Graduate Diploma in Packaging and 22nd batch of Diploma programme in packaging was also held on the same day.

Suresh Prabhu, Minister for Commerce and Industry, Civil Aviation, Government of India (GoI), inaugurated the newly constructed buildings in the presence of C R Chaudhary, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Food and Public Distribution, GoI. The other eminent personalities included Dr Sonia Sethi, Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry who was also present as Special Guest.  

The size of the global packaging industry is about $825 billion whereas the Indian packaging industry will be $24.6 billion by the end of 2018. The annual growth rate of global packaging industry is about 5-6 percent whereas the Indian packaging industry is growing at the rate of 11-13 percent per annum. Considering the great demand for packaging professionals in the packaging converting and packaging user industry, the governing body of the institute decided to commence B.Tech, M.Tech and Ph.D programmes in Packaging Technology and management.

It is expected that with the commencement of B.Tech, M.Tech and Ph.D programme in Packaging Technology and Management, the country would be able to create a ‘hub’ of packaging professionals to meet the demand of packaging industry. In addition, packaging research leading to Ph.D programme would be able to upgrade the packaging research by way of developing innovative, alternative, eco-friendly packaging materials to meet the compliance of environmental regulation and also for the overall growth and development of Indian packaging industry.

The functions were followed by Packfest 2018 – an initiative by IIP started in 2010 to celebrate packaging technology in the country. The students of PGDP from different campuses organised the three-day Packaging Festival at the main campus of the institute. During this festival, students displayed models made from packaging solid waste and also participated in various competitions like poster presentation, debate competition, group discussion in packaging etc.

Speaking about the functions, Suresh Prabhu said, “Let me congratulate the students who have received an award today. I am very happy that many of you have chosen this career. Packaging has become the most important driving force for marketing of a product. It has become the driver of the future growth. Once again congratulations to all the winners. You have aligned yourself to a career which has a bright future.”

Dr N C Saha, Director, IIP, commented, “We are excited about the new building that will house our B. Tech, M. Tech and Ph. D programmes. These new buildings are a great addition to our infrastructure and we hope to have more state-of-the-art facilities for our students. The convocation and Packfest programmes were also a great occasion for all the students and staff to come together.” 

The main objective of the institute is to promote the export market by way of innovative package design, development and also to upgrade the overall standards of packaging at national level. Packaging education is indispensable for any business and technical knowledge is required for all the major players involved. 

The course curriculum at IIP has recently undergone a review under the guidance of education committee of the governing body of the Institute by including few important subjects like package design, Eco-Packaging etc. Most importantly, the course is well recognised by the packaging converting industry and MNCs are known to participate in the campus placement regularly. Till date, more than 5000 students have qualified from the Institute and are well absorbed at senior positions in leading FMCG companies in India and abroad.