Notebook & Exercise Book Manufacturers in Sivakasi — School and Custom Notebooks in Bulk
Long and short exercise books, five-subject notebooks, printed wrappers and custom branded notebooks for schools, distributors, education boards and corporates — priced by page count, not by adjective.
In short
Notebook manufacturing in Sivakasi starts at a MOQ of 5,000 pieces. A 172-page long notebook on 58–70 GSM maplitho, centre-pinned with a printed wrapper, runs ₹14–₹24 per piece at 25,000 units with a 10–15 day lead time. Below 5,000 pieces the wrapper plates alone distort the price.
Reviewed 20 September 2026 · maplitho rates and page-count bands re-checked each January, before the school season
Notebook rates by page count and quantity
Notebooks are priced almost entirely by paper weight — page count times GSM times sheet area. Binding, wrapper and packing are the small change. That is why the tiers below start at 5,000 and run to 2 lakh: this is a volume product, and the price only becomes interesting at volume.
| Notebook type & spec | 5,000 pcs | 10,000 pcs | 25,000 pcs | 50,000 pcs | 2,00,000 pcs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short notebook 76 pages58 GSM maplitho, centre-pinned, printed wrapper | ₹8 – 13 | ₹7 – 12 | ₹6 – 10 | ₹5.50 – 9 | ₹5 – 8 |
| Long notebook 120 pages58 GSM maplitho, centre-pinned | ₹13 – 20 | ₹12 – 18 | ₹10 – 16 | ₹9 – 15 | ₹8 – 13 |
| Long notebook 172 pages58–70 GSM maplitho, centre-pinned | ₹18 – 30 | ₹16 – 27 | ₹14 – 24 | ₹13 – 22 | ₹11 – 19 |
| Long notebook 200 pages70 GSM maplitho, centre-pinned or perfect-bound | ₹22 – 36 | ₹20 – 32 | ₹17 – 28 | ₹15 – 26 | ₹13 – 22 |
| Five-subject 300 pages70 GSM maplitho, wiro, board cover, subject dividers | ₹58 – 95 | ₹52 – 86 | ₹46 – 76 | ₹42 – 70 | ₹36 – 60 |
| Wrapper onlyPrinted cover sheet, 130 GSM art paper, 4-colour | ₹1.60 – 3.20 | ₹1.30 – 2.70 | ₹1 – 2.10 | ₹0.85 – 1.80 | ₹0.70 – 1.50 |
If you need 500 branded notebooks, we are the wrong supplier
Our MOQ is 5,000 because a notebook carries a 4-colour printed wrapper, and the wrapper plates and make-ready cost the same whether you print 500 wrappers or 50,000. At 500 pieces the plate cost alone is several rupees per notebook, which is a third of the product. A digital press or a screen-printed cover will beat us comfortably at that quantity, and ARC Print lists a spiral notebook at ₹70 retail with a very low minimum. Take that route. Come back at 5,000.
Notebook formats and what schools actually specify
“Long notebook” and “short notebook” are trade terms, not dimensions, and they mean different things to different buyers. Here is what we mean by them, and what to check on a school's specification sheet.
| Format | Trimmed size | Usual page counts | Ruling | Who buys it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long notebook | About 180 × 240 mm (1/8 of a 23 × 36 in sheet) | 76, 120, 172, 200 | Single-line, four-line, square, unruled | The volume school format across Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka |
| Short notebook | About 145 × 205 mm | 76, 100, 120 | Single-line, four-line | Primary classes; also the cheapest branded giveaway notebook |
| Crown / 1/4 size | About 215 × 275 mm | 172, 200 | Single-line, square, graph | Higher classes, record notebooks, practical records |
| Five-subject | About 180 × 240 mm, wiro | 240, 300 | Single-line, mixed ruling with dividers | College and coaching students; the highest-margin school notebook |
| Composition / register | About 215 × 340 mm | 96, 192 | Single-line, double-column | Accounts, attendance registers, institutional record keeping |
| Graph and practical record | Long or crown | 76, 100 | Square 1 cm or 2 mm, plain alternate | Science and engineering courses; alternate plain pages are standard |
| Drawing book | About 240 × 340 mm | 20, 30, 40 sheets | Unruled cartridge | Primary and middle school; 100–120 GSM cartridge, not maplitho |
Notebook wrapper printing — the part Sivakasi is actually known for
“Notebook wrapper printing” is a Sivakasi trade term that barely appears anywhere else in English, and it describes a real and separate business. A wrapper is the printed cover sheet — usually 130 GSM art paper, 4-colour, sometimes with a spot UV or a gloss lamination — that is wrapped around a notebook block. Many stationery brands and regional distributors buy blocks and wrappers separately: the block from whoever is cheapest that week, the wrapper from a press that can hold colour across a long run.
We print wrappers as a standalone job from 5,000 pieces at ₹1.60–₹3.20 each and down to ₹0.70–₹1.50 at two lakh. The economics are almost entirely about ink coverage and lamination. A wrapper with a dark full-bleed photograph costs meaningfully more to run than one with a flat colour and a logo, because ink coverage that heavy on 130 GSM art paper needs more drying time between stacks, and a stack that is rushed sets off onto the sheet above it.
The other thing worth knowing: wrapper colour is the single most visible quality signal on a school notebook, and it is the one a distributor gets complained about. If you are running the same design across a season, ask for a colour-controlled reprint against the first approved sheet rather than against the original artwork. A press that keeps the approved sheet and matches to it — which is what we do, with the sheet dated and filed — will hold colour across three separate runs in a season. A press that re-matches to the file each time will not.
Paper, brightness and what actually goes wrong
Inner paper
- 58 GSM maplitho is the standard school specification and the most-tendered weight in South India
- 70 GSM is specified by private schools and for any notebook that will take a gel or fountain pen
- Brightness of 80–85 ISO is the usual range; below 78 the paper reads grey and looks like recycled stock even when it is not
- Ask for the mill name on the paper, not just the GSM — two 58 GSM sheets from different mills do not rule the same
- Ruling ink must be light enough to disappear under pencil; this is a plate and ink decision, not a paper one
Where notebook orders go wrong
- Page count counted as leaves instead of pages. A 172-page notebook has 86 leaves — confirm which the tender means
- Centre-pinning above 200 pages: the staple will not hold and the block splays. Use perfect binding or wiro
- Wrapper printed before the block size is confirmed, then trimmed short at the fore-edge
- A 58 GSM specification accepted, then 54 GSM delivered. Weigh a sample ream; it takes five minutes
- Ordering in June for a June academic year. Notebook production is a February-to-April job
Buying for a school, a board or a distributor
Institutional notebook buying runs on a different clock from everything else on this site. The Indian academic year starts in June, distributors stock in April and May, and the printing has to happen in February, March and early April. That is why our season chart shows a second, smaller peak in those months. A school that starts sourcing in May is buying from someone else's leftover stock, at someone else's price.
For a single school ordering 10,000 to 30,000 notebooks, the practical route is a spec sheet with four lines on it: page count, ruling, GSM and wrapper design. Everything else — trimmed size, binding, packing — we will propose and you will approve. For a distributor ordering across a season in lakhs, the useful conversation is about holding a price across the season rather than quoting each release separately, and about whether you want colour matched to an approved sheet across all releases.
For state board and district tenders, the constraints are documentary as much as industrial: GST registration, prior-supply evidence, sample submission against the tender specification, and a delivery schedule that is usually staggered across districts. We handle the documentation and the staggered dispatch; what we will not do is bid a specification we cannot hold. If a tender asks for 58 GSM at 85 ISO brightness at a rate that only works at 54 GSM, we will say so and not bid. The tender supply page sets out the documentation and the timeline in detail.
Custom branded notebooks for corporates
A different product from a school notebook, even when the block is identical. What changes is the cover and the packing.
| Build | Cover | Binding | Band per piece at 5,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Softcover branded notebook, 120 pages | Art card 250 GSM, 4-colour, matte lamination | Perfect bound | ₹26 – ₹44 |
| Wiro notebook, 160 pages | Art card 300 GSM, matte lamination | Twin-loop wire | ₹38 – ₹62 |
| Hardcover notebook, 192 pages | Printed board or PU over board | Sectional-sewn, cased in | ₹78 – ₹135 |
| Pocket notebook, 96 pages | Art card 250 GSM, spot UV logo | Centre-sewn | ₹14 – ₹26 |
| Notebook with elastic band and ribbon | PU over board | Sectional-sewn | ₹92 – ₹165 |
Questions we answer daily
What is the minimum order for notebook printing?
5,000 pieces per design. The 4-colour wrapper plates and make-ready cost the same at 500 pieces as at 50,000, so below 5,000 the plate cost is a significant share of the notebook. For 500 branded notebooks, a digital press or a screen-printed cover is genuinely cheaper and we will tell you so.
How much does a school notebook cost per piece?
A 172-page long notebook on 58–70 GSM maplitho, centre-pinned with a printed wrapper, runs ₹18–₹30 at 5,000 pieces, ₹14–₹24 at 25,000 and ₹11–₹19 at two lakh. A 76-page short notebook runs ₹8–₹13 at 5,000 and ₹5–₹8 at two lakh. Rates are ex-factory Sivakasi, excluding GST and freight.
What GSM do schools specify for notebooks?
58 GSM maplitho is the most-tendered weight in South India and 70 GSM is what private schools and any pen-based notebook needs. Brightness of 80–85 ISO is the usual range. Ask for the mill name as well as the weight — two 58 GSM sheets from different mills do not take ruling ink the same way.
What is notebook wrapper printing?
The printed cover sheet wrapped around a notebook block, normally 130 GSM art paper in 4 colours. Many brands buy blocks and wrappers from different suppliers. We print wrappers standalone from 5,000 pieces at ₹1.60–₹3.20 each, falling to ₹0.70–₹1.50 at two lakh, depending on ink coverage and lamination.
When should notebooks be ordered for a June academic year?
February to early April. Distributors stock in April and May, which means production has to finish before that. A school sourcing in May is buying leftover stock at someone else's price. Production lead time is 10–15 days, but the paper and the centre-pinning line are both busy in that window, so add buffer.
Is 172 pages the same as 172 leaves?
No, and this is the single most common misunderstanding on a notebook tender. A 172-page notebook has 86 leaves, printed both sides. If a specification says 172 sheets it means twice the paper and roughly twice the price. Confirm which the tender means in writing before anyone quotes.
Can you centre-pin a 300-page notebook?
No. Centre-pinning works reliably up to about 200 pages; beyond that the staple will not hold the block and it splays open at the fore-edge. A 240 or 300-page five-subject notebook is wiro-bound, and a 300-page single-block notebook is perfect-bound. We will not quote a staple that we know will fail.
Do you supply against school board and district tenders?
Yes, with GST registration, sample submission against the tender specification, prior-supply evidence and staggered district-wise dispatch. What we do not do is bid a specification we cannot hold — if a tender's rate only works at 54 GSM while the specification says 58, we decline rather than substitute.
Related pages
- Diary manufacturers in Sivakasi The hub: covers, binding, inner paper and rates
- School notebook tender supply Documentation, sampling and district-wise dispatch
- Paper & GSM guide Maplitho, brightness and the Indian trade sheet sizes
- Printing cost in India 2026 Notebook rates beside calendars, diaries and cartons
- Book printing in Sivakasi Textbooks and competitive-exam material for the same buyers
- Get a quote Page count, ruling, GSM, wrapper design, quantity
Send the spec. Get a per-piece band.
Product, quantity, size and GSM. A person who has stood at the press replies within 1 working day — WhatsApp or email, in Tamil, English or Hindi.