Your first print order with us, step by step
From the enquiry to the courier box: what happens, what we need from you and how long each stage takes.
Sivakasi beyond fireworks: a printing town
How a dry town in southern Tamil Nadu became one of India’s busiest printing centres, and what to see if you visit.
Most people know Sivakasi for fireworks and matches, but walk down Velayudham Road and you will hear more offset presses than anything else. The town prints a large share of India’s calendars, diaries, notebooks, labels and packaging, and printing employs thousands of people here.
It grew out of the match and fireworks trade. Matchboxes and cracker boxes needed bright printed labels, and local printers learned colour lithography early in the twentieth century to supply them. The dry climate, with little rain for most of the year, also helped: paper stays flat and ink dries well. By the 1960s and 70s, Sivakasi presses were printing calendars for businesses across the country.
Today the trade covers everything from wedding cards to children’s books and cartons. Small specialist units sit side by side: plate-makers, laminators, foil and emboss shops, binders and box makers. A job can move between five businesses in a single street in a day. That close network is why a Sivakasi press can offer finishes that would need a week of courier trips elsewhere.
If you visit, come between January and July, when the presses are less crowded. Madurai airport is about 75 km away, and the drive takes under two hours. We are happy to show clients round our floor, and can usually arrange a visit to a binder or a box maker nearby. Bring comfortable shoes and expect the smell of ink.
