New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS): India's packaging industry, especially corrugated boxes, needs to integrate more technologies to spur innovation which will help it in maintaining high growth and attract customers from the country and abroad, industry representatives said Friday.

"There is a need to integrate more technology to spur innovation in the sector. This will in turn help the sector in maintaining high growth and attract more business," Vinita Bali, managing director of Britannia, said in her address to the 40th annual conference of the Federation of Corrugated Box Manufacturers of India.

Bali's views were corroborated by Keith Pearson, president of the World Packaging Organisation, who said that India can take a substantial share of the $ 195.3 billion global corrugated packaging market by embracing more technology.

"The world is coming to India to buy its products and services and India can take pride of place in packaging market, by embracing more technology in the sector,"Pearson said.

Currently, the domestic corrugated packaging industry is growing at over 15 percent.

Since the last decade, there has been a significant growth in the use of corrugated boxes in processed food industry, fruits and vegetables and consumer durables.

The corrugated box manufacturing industry is currently valued at Rs.15,000 crore.

Other panelist at the conference said that the industry would grow faster if foreign capital in multi-brand retail is allowed.

"If the retail segment opens and that with the farm sector set to be directly aligned with the organised retailing, the need for more reliable and better sources of corrugated packaging is round the corner," M.R Gopalachary, president, Federation of Corrugated Box Manufacturers of India.

The three-day conference has attract participants from nearly a dozen countries and around 1,000 entrepreneurs in the packaging industry.