1. Executive Summary

• In 2025 the Indian commercial/packaging printing market continued to grow. Multiple market research firms estimate the overall commercial printing market at the scale of tens of billions of US dollars (IMARC estimates the 2025 Indian commercial printing market at approximately USD 36.5 billion).
• The printing ink market is undergoing structural transformation: packaging inks (especially for flexible packaging, labels, corrugated and beverage/food packaging) are driving demand. Water-based and UV/EB-curable systems are growing fastest, while traditional solvent-based inks are losing share under regulatory and environmental pressure. Water-based inks have shown significant expansion within ink product mixes (industry reports indicate mid-to-high growth for the water-based ink market both in India and globally).
• Imported ink volumes/shipments (measured by customs/transport data) continued to grow in 2023–2024; India still relies on imports from China, Japan and the EU for high-end functional and specialty inks.

2. Market Size and Structure

1) Overall market (printing + packaging)

IMARC report: the Indian commercial printing market is approximately USD 36.5B (2025), with packaging printing as the primary growth engine. Note: this refers to the overall commercial printing market and is not identical to the “ink market value”, but it serves as a macro reference for printing activity intensity.

2) Printing ink market (estimates & signals)

Multiple industry reports and focused studies indicate that packaging and label printing are increasing demand for packaging inks (flexographic, gravure, UV, solvent/water-based). Water-based inks and UV/EB types are among the fastest-growing technical routes. The water-based printing ink market in India has shown significant expansion (some reports estimated the Indian water-based ink market around USD 1.3B in 2023 with strong projected growth).

Note: Publicly available absolute values for the “total Indian printing ink market (USD)” vary significantly across reports (different methodologies). This report therefore favors “shares/trends/estimated proportions” rather than a single absolute value, unless a specific source number is cited.

3. Analysis by Printing Method

The following explains demand intensity and typical consumption characteristics of ink types by mainstream printing methods.

1) Gravure

• Applications: high-volume flexible packaging (food, snack pouches, beverage packaging), film printing (BOPP/PE/PET) and high-end labels.
• Ink types: gravure-specific solvent-based inks, low-migration UV, and increasingly water-based gravure formulations (low VOC / low-migration). Gravure requires high stability, rheology control and fast drying/curing because of high speeds and large runs. Studies show gravure remains a high-consumption segment within packaging printing.
• Share / trend (estimate): In flexible packaging and label segments, gravure together with flexo usually accounts for a large share of ink consumption (gravure is preferred for high-quality/long-run scenarios).

2) Flexographic

• Applications: corrugated boxes, flexible packaging, labels, extrusion film.
• Ink types: water-based flexo, solvent-based flexo and UV flexo are all widely used. With environmental regulations and food-contact safety requirements, adoption of water-based and low-migration UV is rising. Research firms (e.g., Cognitive and others) indicate the Indian flexo market reached several hundred million USD in 2025.

3) Offset / Litho

• Applications: commercial printing (books, brochures, cartons inner-liners, etc.).
• Ink types: traditional oil-based/emulsion-offset inks and specialty low-VOC litho inks. Digitalization has increased demand for short-run printing; traditional high-volume offset still holds an important position in commercial printing.

4) Digital Inkjet

• Applications: short-run labels, variable data printing, textiles and small-batch packaging customization.
• Ink types: dedicated digital inks (solvent, UV-curable, oil-based, water-based thermal-transfer/pigment inks). Digital inks are high in unit price but lower in total volume; their footprint grows with customization and SKU proliferation. Multiple agencies report: “digital ink volume is rising, but overall share remains smaller than traditional printing systems.”

5) Screen Printing

• Applications: specialty printing, textiles, and certain packaging special effects (e.g., fluorescent, metallic effects).
• Ink types: specialty inks (thick-film, metallics, dedicated UV/oil-based types). Overall consumption is relatively low but the technical threshold and value-add are high.

4. Ink Type Consumption in 2025

Mainstream ink types

1. Solvent-based inks
   Historically dominant due to fast drying and broad film compatibility. Under environmental regulation (VOC limits) and food-contact regulations, solvent-based share is being replaced by water-based and UV/EB systems. Global and Indian reports indicate solvent-based inks remain large but are in decline/being substituted.
2. Water-based inks
   One of the fastest-growing segments. The Indian water-based printing ink market was estimated at around USD 1.3B in 2023 with continued CAGR growth projected. Water-based inks are prioritized in packaging—especially food packaging—and some labels/boxes to meet low-VOC and food-safety requirements.
3. UV / EB curable inks
   Adopted increasingly due to instantaneous curing, high production efficiency and low VOC characteristics. UV/EB is used across many films and paper substrates. Several industry reports list UV/EB as a key future growth direction.
4. Oil-based / Traditional offset inks
   Still mainstream in traditional commercial (offset) printing, particularly for paper and board. Digitalization exerts some pressure on this segment.
5. Digital inks (inkjet) & specialty inks
   Digital inks are smaller in total volume but fast-growing; specialty inks (low-migration, heat-resistant, conductive, metallic, etc.) are high value-added niches.

Estimated volume shares (industry-estimate ranges, for reference only):

• Solvent-based: 30%–40% (declining)
• Water-based (including water-based gravure/flexo/offset): 25%–35% (growing)
• UV / EB: 15%–25% (rapid growth)
• Traditional oil-based (offset): 10%–15% (stable to declining)
• Digital & specialty inks: <10% (but with high CAGR)

Reminder: Different research providers use different methodologies; if you have proprietary data that conflicts with these ranges, use your data as the authoritative source.

5. Classification and Volumes of Imported Inks

• Trade/customs signals indicate that Indian imports of printing inks saw growth in import batches and shipment volumes during 2020–2024 (import batch counts/tonnage metrics reflect dependency for high-end inks or short-term replenishment).
• Import source countries & types (industry observation):
  • China: general-purpose solvent and water-based packaging inks, large drums of colorants/pastes and industrial formulations (cost-competitive).
  • Japan / EU / USA: high-end low-migration formulations, UV/EB curable systems, specialty pigments and additives used by clients with strict food migration, colorfastness and processing stability requirements.
• Import classification (common HS coding approach):Products are typically recorded under HS 3215 (“Printing ink, writing or drawing ink and other inks”), with subheadings covering solvent-based, water-based, concentrated colorants and specialty inks.