While the overall plastic packaging industry in the state has grown by 10-12 per cent so far this fiscal, the pharma packaging space has managed to do better, growing by around 15-18 per cent thanks to strong demand from drugmakers.
Bipin Shah, president of the Plastindia Foundation said that, "Pharma packaging units are clocking a 15 per cent compounded annual growth rate as demand from the sector is witnessing a healthy growth rate."
A recent report by the Plastindia Foundation pointed out that as far as sector wise demand drivers go, the packaging sector is estimated to drive polymer demand of around 6.3 million tonnes by 2016-17 in comparison to consumer goods (1.3 million tonnes), automotive (0.5 million tonnes), infrastructure (2.4 million tonnes).
At the same time, currently the share of pharma packaging in the Rs 1,25,000 crore polymer processing industry is around 7 per cent, and therefore, there is huge potential for growth. As is evident from what Aswinbhai, promoter of Ishika Industries, a small scale pharma packaging unit based in Ahmedabad says, "A few years back my firm was getting orders worth Rs 75,000 a month, and now it has escalated to Rs 12 lakh per month. Around 25 per cent of my supply goes to Baddi in Himachal Pradesh."
Krishna Foils, which owns and operates a pharmaceutical packaging unit at the Naroda GIDC says it sees good demand. Sanjay Gandhi, promoter of Krishna foils said, "The demand from pharmaceutical manufacturers is good. We make packaging for oral dosages like tablets and capsules, and not just from Gujarat, there is huge demand from Chennai, Baddi, and Hyderabad apart from Maharashtra based units." He added that if the demand growth is sustained, his unit might look at expansion options next year.
According to officials at the Gujarat State Plastic Manufacturers Association (GSPMA), there would be around 250 pharma packaging units in Gujarat clocking a turnover of close to Rs 1,000 crore.
JigishDoshi, chairman and managing director of Ahmedabad based Vishakha Group, plastic processor, said that overall plastic packaging industry in Gujarat has slowed down in growth, from 16 per cent last year, to 10-12 per cent growth this year. In comparison, the pharma packaging space has managed to grow at around 15-18 per cent.