The two-piece setup box a brand reaches for when a folding carton is not enough — rigid greyboard wrapped in printed art paper, foil-stamped and spot-UV'd, for jewellery, electronics, confectionery and premium FMCG.
In short
A rigid box — also called a setup box — is non-folding greyboard wrapped in a printed art-paper or met-pet sheet, so it ships assembled rather than flat. From a Sivakasi press it runs an indicative ₹80–200 per box depending on size and board, with a minimum order of 2,000 pieces and heavier finishing than a ₹2.50–5 folding monocarton.
Reviewed 28 October 2026 · board, wrap and finishing rates re-checked quarterly; greyboard moves faster than art paper
The first four rows are rigid builds; the last two are the folding carton and the corrugated outer most rigid orders also need, shown for contrast.
| Style | Construction | Board | Finish | Indicative price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two-piece setuplid over base | Greyboard, art-paper wrap | 1.5–3 mm greyboard | Matte lam + foil | ₹80 – 200 |
| Magnetic-closure book box | Hinged greyboard lid | 2–3 mm greyboard | Spot UV, foil | ₹80 – 200 |
| Drawer / slide box | Sleeve + inner tray | 1.5–2.5 mm greyboard | Lamination | ₹80 – 200 |
| Shoulder-neck rigid | Base, neck and lid | 2–3 mm greyboard | Foil, emboss | ₹80 – 200 |
| Folding monocartonthe alternative | Duplex, folds flat | 250–400 GSM duplex | Lam / UV | ₹2.50 – 5 |
| Corrugated outerships the rigid boxes | 3/5-ply kraft | Kraft liner | Flexo | ₹18 – 35 |
A folding monocarton — printed duplex that ships flat and pops open on the line — runs roughly ₹2.50–5 a piece and is the right answer for most retail packaging. A rigid box costs an order of magnitude more, an indicative ₹80–200 depending on size and board, because it is a different object: non-folding greyboard, wrapped and finished largely by hand, that arrives assembled and signals a premium product before it is opened. You pay the difference when the box is part of the gift — jewellery, a phone, a premium confectionery hamper, a flagship corporate gift. If the box only has to protect and display a fast-moving product on a shelf, the folding carton wins, and we will steer you to it rather than sell you rigid you do not need.
A separate lid that drops over a base, both built from wrapped greyboard. The classic rigid box — jewellery, watches, premium stationery — where lifting the lid is part of the experience. The wrap is where the printing lives: 4-colour art paper or a metallised met-pet sheet laminated to the board before the box is formed.
A hinged lid that closes with a concealed magnet and opens like a book — the format electronics, cosmetics and corporate welcome kits reach for. More tooling than a setup box, so it sits at the upper end of the band, but the closure and the flat inner lid give foil, spot UV and a printed message room to work.
An outer sleeve and an inner tray that slides out — the matchbox principle scaled up and dressed for confectionery, chocolates and small electronics. It protects the product in transit and makes a quiet reveal. Greyboard sleeve and tray, wrapped and laminated, often with a ribbon pull on the tray.
A base and lid separated by an inner neck for a precise, weighted close — and, around Diwali, the printed cracker gift box and outer carton that are unique to this cluster. Sivakasi has made fireworks packaging since the trade began, so a seasonal gift box is a job the presses here know in their sleep.
A rigid box is two materials. The structure is greyboard — dense, non-bending chipboard, usually 1.5 to 3 mm thick, cut and formed into the box shape. The surface is a separate printed wrap: a 4-colour art-paper sheet, or a metallised polyester “met-pet” sheet for a mirror finish, laminated over the greyboard before or after forming. That construction is why a rigid box does not fold flat the way a monocarton does, and why it ships assembled. It is also why the printing specification and the structural specification are two different conversations: the wrap decides how the box looks, the greyboard thickness decides how solid it feels in the hand.
Where a rigid build is overkill, the same press makes the folding alternatives — duplex monocartons at 250–400 GSM for retail packaging, SBS and FBB for food-contact work, and corrugated kraft outers to ship either one. Many packaging orders use all three at once: a rigid box for the product, a monocarton for the retail multipack, and a corrugated outer for transit. We quote them together so the board grades and the artwork stay consistent across the set.
Rigid and luxury boxes go out of Sivakasi to jewellery and watch brands, mobile and electronics makers, cosmetics and perfume houses, premium confectionery and bakery names, garment and apparel labels, and the LED and small-appliance trade that needs a box sturdier than a folding carton. Around Diwali the same lines turn to fireworks gift boxes and cracker outer cartons — the packaging the cluster was originally built to print. Where the box holds food or confectionery we build it food-grade, with food-contact inks and the FSSAI labelling, barcode and batch marks the category requires, so the pack clears both the shelf and the regulator. Tell us the product, its weight and its retail position and we match the box style, the greyboard thickness and the finish to it.
A rigid box ships assembled, not flat, so it takes more volume per carton than a monocarton — a fact that shapes the freight cost on an export order and one we plan for from the quote. Boxes are nested or interleaved, packed into 5-ply corrugated outers with carton marks per destination, and dispatched through the nearest ports at Tuticorin or Chennai for overseas buyers. For a domestic multi-branch brand we split a single run across as many delivery addresses as you list, on one invoice, with a packing list per destination.
A rigid or setup box is non-folding greyboard, 1.5–3 mm thick, wrapped in a printed sheet and delivered assembled. A monocarton is printed duplex that folds flat and pops open on the packing line. The rigid box runs an indicative ₹80–200 against roughly ₹2.50–5 for a folding carton, because it uses more board and more hand-finishing.
Two thousand pieces, the same minimum as our monocarton work. Rigid boxes carry tooling for the wrap die and the forming, so below 2,000 that setup dominates the per-box cost. The piece price falls steadily as the run grows because the tooling and make-ready spread across more boxes, which is the whole logic of ordering in bulk.
The structure is greyboard, usually 1.5 to 3 mm thick depending on the size and the weight it must hold, wrapped in a 4-colour art-paper or metallised met-pet sheet. For folding cartons we switch to 250–400 GSM duplex, or SBS and FBB for food-contact packs. The thicker the greyboard, the more solid the box feels and the higher the board cost.
Yes — two-piece setup, magnetic-closure book boxes, sleeve-and-tray drawer boxes and shoulder-neck boxes are all standard rigid formats here. Magnetic and shoulder-neck builds carry more tooling and sit at the upper end of the ₹80–200 band; a plain two-piece setup box is the most economical rigid style at a given size.
Hot-foil stamping, spot UV over matte lamination, emboss and deboss, a metallised met-pet wrap for a full mirror finish, and gloss or matte lamination as the base coat. Inside, we fit printed or flocked trays, foam and EVA inserts, ribbon pulls and magnetic closures. The finish is the main reason a rigid box reaches the top of its price band.
Yes. Where the box holds confectionery, bakery or other edible goods we build it with food-contact inks and the FSSAI-compliant labelling the category needs, plus barcode, QR and batch coding printed into the artwork. Tell us the product at the quote stage so the right inks and the regulatory marks are specified before plates are made.
Yes, and it is a job the cluster knows better than anywhere — Sivakasi's presses were built to print fireworks and matchbox packaging, so printed cracker gift boxes and outer cartons are core work here, busiest around the September–October Diwali window. Book the seasonal run early; the packaging lines fill fast in the weeks before the festival.
Because a rigid box arrives assembled rather than flat, it takes more volume per carton, so freight is planned from the quote. Boxes are nested, packed into 5-ply corrugated outers with per-destination carton marks, and sent through Tuticorin or Chennai for export. A domestic run can be split across multiple delivery addresses on one invoice with a packing list each.
Style, internal dimensions, board and finish. Someone who has stood at the box line replies within 1 working day — WhatsApp or email, in Tamil, English or Hindi.