There's a sense of the precision of a Swiss watch about ABP's Barasat print site, just outside the West Bengal capital of Kolkata.

Which is hardly surprising, given that press and mailroom technology there both originate from that country. Four Wifag OF370S presses are in a line 91 metres long, with a Ferag conveyor system leading to a huge mailroom which provides ample space for expansion, perhaps into mechanised inserting and finishing at a later date. Currently copies of the English-language Telegraph and its supplements, and the five editions of the flagship Anandabazar Patrika go straight out of the door to be assembled by distributors.

Opened in October 2009 to centralise production, the Barasat print site stands out - for the quality of its architecture and its immaculate landscaped grounds - even before we're inside, up the black marble stairs, and pause to put on shoe-protectors before entering the plate room. Four Krause Laserjet plate imagers have Nela's Vision punch benders and handle 2000 single plates a night.

A special cause for pride is a fully-equipped laboratory facility equipped to test all the consumables of day-to-day production. ABP mixes newsprint from several sources in a product - now down to 40 gsm after a series of moves including "rethinking" prepress, helping mills redesign paper, and redeveloping high solids, high strength ink - and was running DIC black and Huber colours on our visit.

On press, innovations include a "pseudo-panorama" with a flap - a regular feature of copies of the Telegraph I saw - and the use of UV curing (using German IST technology) to give a lift to covers and special products.

But it's not just the kit, but the evident culture that impresses on a tour after WAN-Ifra's 2016 India conference. As a table of awards bears witness.

Established in 1982, the Telegraph was the first Indian newspaper to gain membership of WAN-Ifra's International Newspaper Color Quality Club (INCQC) in 2004-2006, and has also taken part 2006-2008 and again this year.

Asia Media Awards 'best in print' honours - then for single-width - and then National Awards for Excellence in Printing date to 2005, and the company has ISO quality assurance from 2011, as well as recognition for its contribution to the IT industry in West Bengal in 2007.

The flagship Anandabazar Patrika - which first appeared in 1922 as a four-page evening daily - has also been a participant in the INCQC competition, and Snehasis Roy, who is associate vice president for manufacturing, has shared lessons from the exercise notably at ASEAN Newspaper Printers' conference last year. While he talked folding and glueing format, 3D images, metallic and fluorescent inks and the addition of fragrances and even insect-repellent, it was the "plan, don't rush" message that endured.

Impressively planned - and even with still-rising vernacular circulations - the Kolkata print site looks set to meet the publisher's regional requirements well into the future.

Peter Coleman

Pictured: Snehasis Roy with some of ABP's production awards, and conference delegates tour the site