Around 400 members from the industry and allied sector, award winners, were a part of the award function. The contest received 353 entries. Yogesh Mishra, executive director, Hindustan Unilever and head of supply chain, South East Asia, Unilever was the chief guest and Sreenivas Rao, global head of supply chain, Sun Pharma, was the guest of honour.

Vagish Dixit, chairman, IIP, observed, “It was a proud moment for the Indian Institute of Packaging to organise the prestigious National Awards for Excellence in packaging - Indiastar and Pacmachine. These events are a major milestone in the history of the institute and continue to be an enabler for the Indian packaging industry to expand its global footprint.”

He believes that Indiastar and Pacmachine awards showcased the capabilities of the Indian industry in packaging and its allied industries and reflect the best from exciting entries from latest packaging materials, machinery, equipment, and services. "We are very pleased to see very high-quality entries in the post-pandemic era and these reflect the importance of the awards in our field of packaging,” Dixit added.

RK Mishra, IRS, director of IIP, stated, “This competition has inspired many innovations complimenting the government of India’s two important missions - Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat." He pointed out that these awards were introduced by the institute with the objective of inspiring the package designs with indigenous technology and user industry. The awards promote designs to innovate customer friendly, cost effective, convenience and environmentally with high functional property package design for the acceptance of the modern consumer.

Shekhar Amberkar, assistant director and head of international packaging centre, IIP, who was also the coordinator for this event, mentioned, “The awards distinction Indiastar and Pacmachine enjoys a high level of recognition worldwide and serves as a brand for the companies, agencies and students with outstanding design skills." He said that the contest received 353 entries, a record of nominations in spite of the recent post-Covid era. "Indiastar 2022 winners have made India reach third position across the globe in winning maximum awards for Worldstar 2023," he added.

400 members from the industry and allied sector, award winners, were a part of the Indiastar and Pacmachine award show

Other than the who's who from the industry, the ceremony was also attended by some of the leading celebrities from art, culture, music, literature and films, namely; Vishwajeet Madhav Joshi, musician and Hollywood composer; Avinash Shripad Chandrachud, musician and Hollywood composer; Madushree Bhattacharya, veteran singer; and Shanti Priya, veteran actor and Kathak exponent.

IIP has maintained its position as an internationally reputed organisation by responding to the needs of the country, and acting as a single window for India’s capabilities in packaging science and technology. With standing for the last 55 years, IIP instituted the Indiastar Awards in the year 1972 to promote and encourage excellence in packaging design, innovation and sustainability once every two years.

IIP also introduced the Pacmachine Awards in 1992 to recognise the achievements and promote the efforts of the packaging machinery sector. The main objective has been to celebrate excellence with innovative concepts in design and development in packaging machinery particularly for import substitution and promotion of exports.