The Mumbai-based ACG Worldwide (the Associated Capsules Group) and its German partner Alcan Packaging is on the process of restructuring its manufacturing activities to explore the Indian packaging market.

ACG is already marketing a range of packaging products from Alcan for the pharma and food industry in the country and the restructuring will help the company to increase the market reach for Alcan products, according to ACG officials. The company has lately sold its flexible packaging plant at Chakan, near Pune, for Alcan to strengthen its manufacturing activities in India.

"Alcan is the world's largest manufacturer of flexible packaging for the pharmaceutical industry, particularly those based on aluminium foil and the company is investing for expansion of the Chakan plant by installing German technologies for manufacturing. ACG, on the other hand, has the strongest marketing presence amongst the pharma industry in India and will focus on marketing the products of Alcan through its vast network in India," informed a spokesperson with ACG Worldwide.

With the Chakan plant getting expanded with German technology, the pharma and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries in India can look forward to a supply of world class products including cold form blister foil, printed lidding foil, printed flexible packaging and other specialized packaging material delivered with superior after sales technical service, he added.

The Chakan plant prints and laminates flexible packaging with specialised facilities for rotogravure printing in up to 9 colours, dry and wet lamination using solvent-based and water-based adhesives and solventless lamination. The 2,600 sq. meter Chakan plant with US FDA DMF and cGMF compliant facilities currently employs about 100 people and clocks up annual sales of about $3.6 million. Alcan, a business unit of the Rio Tinto group, a mining and metals conglomerate, is intending to use the Chakan plant to service both regional and global markets and expects to fully integrate it into their system by early 2009.

ACG Worldwide, a major in PVdC coated barrier packaging films manufacturing in India and also one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard gelatine capsules, has a state of the art class 100,000 packaging films' manufacturing and coating facility under its packaging arm - ACG Pharmapack - in Shirwal, near Pune. The company also supplies a range of equipment for processing and packaging solid dosage forms including blister packing, cartoning, case packing systems. ACG has also launched a world class range of tablet compression systems.