The Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) has launched a sixth centre which is located in Bangalore due to the growing industrial prowess of the region.

The foundation stone was laid by the Indian government’s Union minister of commerce, industry and textiles Shree Anand Sharma with members from the IIP and the Indian government.

There will also be a laboratory to test packaging material and finished packages once the centre is built.

The IIP Bangalore Centre will host the National Packaging Exhibition, Indpack, and the National Conference on Packaging, in 2014.

The IIP has centres in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

The total turnover of the packaging industry in India at present is US$27.6bn and is expected to grow to around US$43.7bn by 2016, whereas the global turnover is about US$550bn.