Gallus and Heidelberg reinforce commitment to India’s label and packaging market

Gallus Group, a subsidiary of Heidelberg, has announced its return to LOUPE India 2026. At the show, Gallus and Heidelberg will present technologies, services, and application expertise designed especially to help Indian label and packaging converters optimize entire production workflows, achieve efficient and reliable output, and build scalable and cost-effective production operations across a range of applications.

A growing market

India is one of the world’s fastest-growing national economies, with demand for printed packaging being driven by urbanization, rising prosperity and growing consumption of branded products. India’s packaging market is forecast to grow from the current figure of around $12 billion to $20 billion by 2030, with particularly strong growth across pharmaceutical, food, beverage, and e-commerce applications.

This expansion is increasing demand for reliable, accessible and high-quality production technology that reflects different production requirements, investment priorities, and stages of business development. Against this backdrop, LOUPE India’s broadened remit beyond labels to include mid-web flexible packaging, shrink sleeves, pouches, inline carton converting, and smart-label innovations reflects the way converters are extending their capabilities to capture new opportunities across the wider packaging value chain. This evolution aligns closely with Gallus’ broad application portfolio, which spans labels, including security and pressure sensitive labels, tube laminates, in-mold labels, pouches, wraps and shrink sleeves, sachets, and light carton packaging.

“India is one of the world’s most dynamic markets and, for Heidelberg and Gallus, one of significant strategic importance. Its growing population, rising prosperity, and expanding economy are continuing to drive demand for printed packaging,” says Samir Patkar, president, Heidelberg India. “Our return to LOUPE India with Gallus gives us an important opportunity to meet converters face-to-face, understand their priorities, and demonstrate how Gallus and Heidelberg’s role as a system integrator for packaging and label, as well as an integrated solutions partner can create measurable value across the entire production workflow. Increasingly, converters need more than equipment. They need support integrating technologies, consumables, software, service and application expertise into an efficient production environment that can evolve alongside the business.”

“India is becoming an increasingly important growth market for Heidelberg and the exhibition presence reflects Heidelberg’s wider commitment to supporting customers across India,” says Dr. David Schmedding, CSO, Heidelberg. “The company is strengthening its local sales and service capabilities, investing in demonstration facilities, and expanding its partner network to provide solutions tailored to the production requirements, investment priorities and growth ambitions of Indian converters.” Together, Gallus and Heidelberg offer an integrated ecosystem spanning conventional, hybrid and digital printing, software, consumables, service and training. This integrated approach enables converters to work with a single partner across technology selection, workflow optimization, application development, operator training, and long-term production growth, reducing operational complexity while improving productivity and return on investment.

Central exhibit

A central exhibit will be the Gallus Screeny Printing Unit. Introduced in 2025 and making its Indian debut, it brings rotary screen-printing capabilities to narrow-web production environments regardless of press manufacturer. Designed as a compact, independent module, the unit can be integrated into different working environments. With mechanical speeds up to 120 m/m, the technology enables converters to add high-opacity colors and fine details to labels, while its cross-brand integration capability supports retrofit strategies and helps protect existing investments.

“Converters in India are balancing significant growth opportunities with strong cost discipline. They need technologies that deliver efficient, reliable production and a clear return on investment,” says Uwe Boerner, CSO, Gallus Group. “Our presence at LOUPE India is a clear expression of our long-term commitment to this market and gives us an important opportunity to demonstrate how Gallus and Heidelberg can help customers simplify production, control costs, and build the capabilities they need to grow.”