BOBST is already building the NOVAFFG 1024 in India. On September 9–10, 2026, the company will open a new Competence Centre in Pune. And its new Managing Director, Ashish Saxena, says India is being developed as a “global manufacturing and services hub.”
For corrugated board producers, those three developments matter more than the appointment itself. They point to a practical shift: more converting technology built closer to the market, local demonstrations of automation, a stronger service base and a Pune operation that could eventually support customers beyond India.
BOBST operates in more than 50 countries and generated about $2 billion in sales in 2025. But for a plant owner or technical director, the key question is much simpler: what could BOBST’s deeper investment in India change on the factory floor?
corruga.expert congratulates Ashish Saxena on his appointment as Managing Director of BOBST India and wishes him success in the new role. His first public message gives the clearest clue to how he sees the opportunity.
“India’s packaging sector has tremendous potential,” he says, linking that opportunity to changing consumer behaviour, premiumisation, sustainability and organised manufacturing.
He adds that BOBST is looking at India as a “global manufacturing and services hub” and wants to build the company’s “next phase of growth.”
What is already concrete
The strongest evidence is not the leadership announcement. It is the equipment.
In May 2025, BOBST unveiled the NOVAFFG 1024 manufactured in India at its Pune facility. The machine is designed for standard RSC converting and medium-to-large boxes. BOBST specifies speeds of up to 18,000 boxes per hour, corrugated board from 1.2 to 9 mm, an optimized footprint, automated glue-lap extension and Top or Bottom die-cutting configurations.
More important, BOBST India has already disclosed real market traction. At the 2025 Pune launch, Venugopal Menon, Business Director at BOBST India BUPC, said three NOVA lines had already been sold in India, with two more units in assembly and four machines scheduled for production during 2025.
Menon also pointed to “increasing demand for automated inline machines in India,” particularly among converters scaling from roughly 700–800 tons to more than 1,000 tons per month. That makes the localization story much more specific: BOBST is targeting plants that have reached the point where manual or semi-automatic converting becomes a constraint on throughput, consistency and JIT delivery.
For a plant evaluating a flexo folder gluer, rated speed is only one number. The harder questions are setup time, waste, folding accuracy, operator requirements, service response, spare-parts availability and how quickly stable production can be reached after installation.
The new Pune Competence Centre could make those questions easier to answer before capital is committed.
What happens on September 9–10
BOBST India will open the new Competence Centre during its Open House in Pune on September 9–10, 2026, marking 30 years of operations in India. The first day will include corrugated board and flexible packaging, and the programme includes the NovaFFG Inline Casemaker. BOBST CEO Jean-Pascal Bobst and members of the Group Executive Committee are expected to attend.
For corrugated producers, the value is practical. A local centre gives customers a place to see machines and workflows running, discuss applications with technical teams and evaluate automation without travelling to Europe or another distant BOBST site.
What a converter should ask in Pune
A plant owner or technical director should leave the Open House with answers to five questions:
- Which NOVAFFG components are manufactured or sourced in India, and which still come from other BOBST locations?
- What is the current lead time for a machine, commissioning and critical spare parts?
- How many India-built NOVAFFG machines are now installed, ordered or in production?
- What service coverage, training and response times are available after installation?
- Is Pune being prepared only for India, or will India-built equipment increasingly serve export markets?
Those answers will tell converters more about the real value of localization than a general statement about growth.
Why the competitive context matters
BOBST is not the first global corrugated-equipment supplier to localize around Pune. BHS Corrugated India was established there in 2011 and has marketed locally adapted equipment with pricing in Indian rupees, local after-sales support and lifecycle services.
That comparison matters because localization in India is not only about lower manufacturing cost. For converters, the competitive benchmark is increasingly service speed, parts availability, training, local engineering capability and the ability to integrate equipment into existing lines.
BOBST’s move therefore should be judged against what other global suppliers are already offering locally—not only against BOBST’s own European manufacturing model.
A fast-growing packaging market—but keep the number in context
India’s broader packaging industry is projected to reach about $92 billion by FY2030, according to an Avendus Capital estimate reported by The Economic Times, implying roughly 9% annual growth. That figure covers packaging overall, not corrugated board alone, so it should not be treated as a corrugated-market forecast.
Still, the direction helps explain why global equipment suppliers are strengthening local manufacturing and service capabilities: more organized manufacturing, e-commerce, consumer-goods growth and higher quality requirements create demand for faster, more consistent and more automated converting.
Who is Ashish Saxena—and why his background matters
Saxena brings more than 25 years of experience across packaging, materials and international management. Before BOBST, he led the Packaging Films and Polyester Chips business at UFlex. Earlier roles included Jindal Films in Europe, Amcor in the United States and McKinsey & Company in London.
For BOBST India, that background matters because the next phase is not just about machine sales. It is about connecting manufacturing, service, customer support and potentially exports from one Indian platform.
What to watch over the next 12 months
The India strategy should now be judged by evidence.
Watch whether BOBST localizes more corrugated equipment or modules. Watch how many NOVAFFG installations are announced. Watch whether the service and training organization expands. Watch whether Pune-built machines begin moving into export markets. And watch how often the new Competence Centre is used for trials, operator training and application work.
For corrugated board producers, the most important signal will be whether localization changes the economics of ownership: shorter lead times, faster service, lower downtime risk and easier access to automation.
The appointment is only the starting point
Ashish Saxena’s arrival gives BOBST India a new leader, but the larger story is already visible on the production floor.
BOBST is manufacturing corrugated converting equipment in India, opening a customer technology centre in Pune and publicly describing India as part of its future global manufacturing and services network.
Over the next 12–24 months, converters should be able to judge the strategy through hard indicators: more localized equipment, more installations, stronger service capability, shorter response times and evidence that Pune is supporting customers beyond India.
If those indicators appear, BOBST India will have moved well beyond a local sales operation. It will have become a more important part of how BOBST builds, demonstrates and supports corrugated converting technology.
Sources
BOBST — NOVAFFG specifications | Packaging South Asia — India-built NOVAFFG 1024 & Pune Competence Centre | Ashish Saxena — LinkedIn | BOBST Group — 2025 Results | The Economic Times / Avendus Capital — India packaging outlook | Corrugman — BHS Corrugated India
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