A house of printing materials
Computo Print International supplies all that required for offset printing
Having a store-room in the basement of their house helps them deliver materials to customers at any odd hour. Ever since the swift development seen in the newspaper industry in Assam, Computo Print International owned by Amarendra Bharadwaj has been a sole supplier of consumables and machine components to various contract printers, which print the region’s leading vernacular dailies as well as the Guwahati editions of The Times of India and Hindustan Times. In a freewheel interview with All About Newspapers, Amarendra says except newsprint, they deliver all that is needed in web offset printing.
Amarendra Bhardwaj
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hough incepted in the year 1995, the momentum at Computo Print International gained only in the following year (1996) after their active participation in the supply of computer ink toners/cartridges, JK Copiers, etc. They were earlier associated with New Delhi-based Popli Graphics, JN Arora (New Delhi) and NS Graphics (Siliguri). In the year 1998, Computo Print became an authorised dealer of Lastra Niraj Pvt Ltd, which shared more than fifty percent of the North East India’s printing market and sixty percent of Computo Print’s product line. Today, this Mumbai-based plate manufacturer stands acquired by Technova.
When Hindustan Times first launched its Guwahati edition in 1999, it brought a new opportunity—the dealership of Technova—to Computo Print International. After three years of operations across the neighbouring states like Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur, the company finally confined its business only in Assam. The reason: surpassing other states, Assam witnessed a huge growth in the printing market. “All the leading national dailies have opened their regional editions in Guwahati. And there are fourteen vernacular (Assamese) dailies in the state alone where each has at least three editions for major cities like Guwahati, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Bogaigaon, etc,” explains Amarendra adding that it was tough to handle whole lot of the region but still some newspapers in Manipur remained as their regular clients.
Broad array
Pre-sensitised plates and a complete range of plate making chemicals, press room chemicals, washes, inks, fountain solution and speciality chemicals, blankets, sponge, cutting rubber, damping hole, and whatever screen printing materials fill the display racks of Computo Print International. “Many products generally go with pricing factors well, regardless of quality. This doesn’t happen with Lastra (Technova) products we are distributing,” mentions Amarendra.
According to Amarendra, except newsprints all materials for offset printing are available under one roof with us. “We’re the only company in the North East market who extensively distribute the Cow blankets. In the ink domain, Sakata Inx is dominating the region’s market.
Regular patrons
Leading newspaper titles for which Computo Print International has been catering materials over the years are Asomiya Khabor (Frontier Publications Pvt Ltd), Dainik Jansadharan (Jansadharan Printers and Publications Pvt Ltd) in the category of vernacular dailies. And others in the list also include Onuguti Printers, the publisher of Assam’s largely circulated daily Ajir Dainik Batori and which is where the Guwahati edition of The Times of India gets printed.
In addition to newspaper presses, there are many in the sheet fed segment too. Some of the prominent commercial offset printers associated with Computo Print International are Genesis Printers and Publications Pvt Ltd, Saraighat Offset Press, Arora Fine Arts and others located in and around Guwahati.
Broad strategy
With or without the heat of global economic slowdown, every industrial segment is bound to face the market ups and downs. “I don’t think we largely involved in the recent global economic crisis. We don’t see much impact taking place amongst regional players (newspaper printers) in any parts of the region,” says Amarendra.
“Should we term this as a grace of God that most of the newspapers in Assam are associated with us,” mentions Amarendra adding that his aim is to endeavour a new move towards gradually expanding parameter of the region’s printing market. Opening of a printing unit or an ink manufacturing plant in Guwahati is what Computo Print is planning ahead.
