Xerox targets institutions for printing courses

After tying up with the Karnataka State Printers Association (KSPA) for setting up the first-of-its-kind print testing and training centre in Bangalore, Xerox India has said it has started working on collaborating with top institutes in the country to offer the same.

The company had created a corpus of around Rs 1 crore for the Xerox KSPA Print Testing and Training Centre to equip it with digital printing technology and to offer modules on vocational skills in the domain of pre-press, press, post-press and digital printing for students.

Similarly, the company will talk to institutes in the country to introduce programmes on software development and selling and marketing of digital print products.

It's parent company in the US, the Xerox Corporation, through The Xerox Foundation, has announced it will provide a $1 million grant to fund fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

As a focus area for its products, the company is looking at Western India on the back of rapid growth for colour print recorded in the region.

"West India is an extremely important market for the Xerox Production System Group (PSG) and presently contributes over 30 per cent of the PSG revenues," said Vipin Tuteja, executive director, PSG, Xerox India who was in Ahmedabad to announce the company's installation of its 1000 th DocuColor Digital Press in India.

He added that over the next six months the company plans to roll out a focussed market engagement activity to increase awareness of its digital production equipment via multiple road shows in key cities of Western India. The company will be working with a team of digital printing experts in Ahmedabad, Pune and Nagpur to promote graphic art and commercial printing.

Giving growth estimates, Tuteja said that the Indian priting industry is projected to grow from $11 billion in 2005 to $17 billion in 2010 which translates into a 55 per cent growth. Also, Digital print is poised to from 3 per cent of the market in 2005 to 9 per cent in 2010 which is a 75 per cent year to year basis growth.