Indian Banknote Printer Eyes Global Tax Stamp Market

India’s government banknote printer, Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL), is looking to target the tax stamp export market.

The organisation is inviting bids for consultants or agencies to represent it globally for procurements related to excise labels and other security products, including banknotes, coins, security paper, and inks. Interested parties are to submit their bids by end July.

SPMCIL manufactures currency/security paper and security ink. It also mints commemorative and circulation coins, and prints banknotes, non-judicial stamp papers, postage stamps, identity documents, and excise labels. It has a total of nine operating units across the country, including four mints, two security presses, two currency presses, and one paper mill. Its security printing press in Hyderabad is primarily responsible for printing tax stamps.

It is already supplying liquor tax stamps to various states in India, including Haryana, Punjab, Orissa, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh. As far as tobacco stamps are concerned, the Indian government is yet to adopt these – and it is not clear whether it ever will.

SPMCIL has also participated in various bids outside India, thereby signifying its global plans.

According to ‘Tax Stamps & Traceability: A Market Analysis and Technical Update’, although not all countries in south and east Asia use tax stamps, in 2019 the region accounted for over 55% of all spirits stamps in existence and over 30% of cigarette stamps. Between 2018-2023, consumption levels in this region – and with them, tax stamp use – were forecast to grow in each sector by 1% for cigarettes, 15% for spirits, and 50% for wine.

Apart from India, the countries currently using tax stamps in the region include Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

The sheer size of the region – and the fact that some countries, including China, don’t currently use tax stamps – offers significant business potential for tax stamp suppliers such as SPMCIL.