The conference was held at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai on 15 and 16 October 2010.

Digital print in the graphics arts industry accounts for 6% of print distribution while in the textile industry where inkjet is merely 1%. However, the august speakers were of the opinion that it has the potential to grow at over 10-13% in the next five years.

Kiran Prayagi of Graphic Arts Technology & Education and the chairman of the panel discussion at the conference, said: "For long inkjet technology has generally dominated the wide-format printing segment, digital proofing and printers in homes. Digital technology is moving at an ever-increasing pace and some key installations have taken place in the recent past, which suggests that the inkjet market in India is as yet very small but growing."

Among other discussion, the cost of inkjet printing came into sharp focus. The composition of the inkjet inks has to be designed in such a way that it is fully compatible with both the head and the susbtrate. "Inkjet seem to be less expensive when using it at home and for wide-format applications, but industrial usage demands speeds and resolutions, which comes at a cost," said Prayagi. He noted that key industrial applications such as ceramics, glass, and laminate printing offer good opportunities for inkjet.

Other topics at the conference included chemistry of inkjet inks, ink and printing technology, digital colour management and profiling and future trends and novel applications of inkjet. Speakers besides Prayagi included Prof Shloma Magdasi of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Subhash Srivastava of K-Tech, S Srirangarajan of Buhler India, Surendra Gupta of Heubach Colour, Paresh Shetty of HP, Stewart Parrtridge of Chimigraf Iberia, Marizio Ponchiroli of Hustsman Textile Effects, Paolo Milini of MS Printing Solutions and Vishnu Kamat of Advanced Graphics Systems.

The conference was hosted by Inkjet Forum India, an initiative by Silversheen Inks and Coating, a Vasai-based manufacturer of coatings and printing inks.

---