KBA dealers Indo Polygraph Machinery organised the two-day event.

The first open house was held at Rakesh Press in Delhi, which recently purchased a five-colour KBA Rapida 105 Universal press with coater.

Rakesh Press partner Pranav Bagai said: "We have updated ourselves with technologies. KBA was an obvious choice. We have a long-standing relationship with KBA and Indo Polygraph Machinery."

According to the company, which prints calendars, books and magazines, it selected the KBA due to new trends in textured paper and special inks.

Bagai added: "These days, on an average, three magazines are being launched a month. This is a huge opportunity for us."

The second open house was hosted at Gopsons Papers in Noida, which owns one of the largest book production facilities in India, and saw a 20% growth in turnover last year.

The firm has also recently installed a KBA Rapida 105 Universal, which can produce monochrome, two, four and five-colour printing jobs. It also offers remote stock thickness and format pre-selection, as well as a variety of automation programs.

Gopsons Papers director Vasant Goel told PrintWeek India that book revenues were driven by 2.6m hard-bound books, 4.6m paperbacks and 10.1m centre-stitched books.

Book production required some 100 tonnes of paper, of which, almost 35% is export-driven.

Goel added: "We offer error-free and risk-free printing. There are no hidden costs. Our logistics and operations are very efficient."

An Indo Polygraph Machinery spokesman said: "KBA is having a good run in India. It enjoys 90% of world market share in security printing, and 60% world market in large format presses."

He added that he expected a few key installations post-Drupa.