The award is a premier honour for a printer in India. It was jointly presented by the president of Offset Printers Association (OPA) Parveen Aggarwal, Vijay Kumar Chopra president, NIPA, N S Manku president of IPAMA and Nicky Mason managing director IIR Exhibitions, London.

Speaking on the occasion, Rao said: "The printing and packaging industry is one of the most important industries and the economy is dependent on it. The government should recognise our industry and its valuable contribution. It can be called mother of all industries and no other industry can survive without it."

Hanumantha Rao who is now 86, is a multi-dimensional personality. He has done everything from working in fields to working as a journalist, acting in films with N T Rama Rao to participating in the freedom movement, for which he was jailed for three years. In 1962 he started his printing unit, Pragati Art Printers with small letterpress printing machine after which he never looked back.

"Honouring Rao, was a way for OPA and the printing and packaging community of India to acknowledge the debt of gratitude which the printers owe to him," said Aggarwal.

The award to recognise the efforts of the luminaries of the Indian printing and packaging Industry were instituted by OPA in the year 1999.