Power shortages hit Sivakasi printing

The 75-year-old diary and calendar printing industry in Sivakasi has reported a 20-25 per cent drop in its 2012 turnover, compared to the 2011 turnover of Rs 100-120 crore. The industry, which consists largely of medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs), attributes the loss mainly to severe power shortages.

Industry representatives said they had stopped taking orders from October-end, since they cannot meet delivery schedules.

The printing industry in Sivakasi, a town located some 520 km from Chennai, employs about 50,000 people across 600-700 units. Besides the traditional business of note books, text books, novels and labels, a key business of these units is calendar printing.

The Sivakasi printing industry’s total annual revenues are about Rs 1,500 crore, of which six to seven per cent comes from the seasonal business of diary and calendar printing, which takes place in November and December.

Printing presses were initially installed for printing labels of fireworks boxes. Later, entrepreneurs explored the idea of printing diaries, and brought in modern technology and machinery. This small town alone accounts for 30 per cent of the total production of diaries in the country.

But in the current season the power crisis has taken a toll on the industry, which produces both daily-sheet and monthly-sheet calendars, said industry representatives. Sivakasi produces 35 million daily-sheet calendars for the Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry markets, while monthly calendars are distributed across the country. But in November-December 2012, production had not even touched 30 million calendars, according to manufacturers.

K Srinivasan, a local printer, said during the New Year season, his unit would work around the clock. This time, due to power outages of up to 12 hours a day, they were afraid of not being able to meet delivery commitments and had stopped accepting new orders. M Murali Manoj, director, Moorthy Offset Printers, said average capacity utilisation in small units, which have up to three machines, is only 50-60 per cent.