Across the four machine classes widely sold in 2026, published Indian list prices run Rs 3,00,000 to Rs 7,00,000 per piece (≈US$3,600 to US$8,400 at 1 INR ≈ 0.012 USD), with throughput options at 750, 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 kg/hr [S3][S4].
Buyers who do the simple division machine-price ÷ hourly-throughput get a first-pass cost-density number between Rs 150/kg (2,000 kg/hr unit at Rs 3,00,000) and Rs 933/kg (750 kg/hr unit at Rs 7,00,000), a roughly 6× spread that the catalog does not explain up front [S4].
Price Tiers and What Each One Buys You
Nikky Consultant & Engineering (Ghaziabad, India) lists four capacity classes on one product family page, all "Automatic" except the 1,000 kg/hr unit which is "semi-automatic" [S4]. The 750 kg/hr machine is the entry tier at Rs 7,00,000, the 1,500 kg/hr at Rs 3,50,000, and the 2,000 kg/hr at Rs 3,00,000; the 1,000 kg/hr semi-automatic unit is not priced on the page and requires a direct quote [S4].
On a separate listing, the same supplier prices a 2000 kg/hr automatic spiral paper core making machine at 150,000 INR per piece with 1-piece MOQ, while a smaller spiral paper tube machine (500 to 1,000 tubes/hr, 2.5 kW, mild steel body) is listed at 20,000 INR per piece [S3]. The order-of-magnitude gap between the two is real: the first measures output in kg of wound core, the second in finished tubes per hour, and the kg-rated machine uses heavy-duty rollers and a longer inline cut-off that the tubes/hr model does not [S3].
For a Chinese-built alternative, the XY-SD-A automatic paper core machine from Fujian Xinyun is specified at 15 to 20 m/min line speed, 25 to 100 mm core diameter, 2 to 30 paper plies, 150 to 400 g/m² grammage, 4.5 kW at 380 V 50 Hz, with a standard 2-year warranty, but no list price is published and a quote request is required [S1].
Cost-per-Output-Hour: The Real Comparison
Normalising machine price against rated output produces a per-hour capex figure of Rs 150/hr for the 2,000 kg/hr unit (Rs 3,00,000 ÷ a 2,000-hour year), Rs 175/hr for the 1,500 kg/hr unit (Rs 3,50,000 ÷ 2,000 hours), and Rs 350/hr for the 750 kg/hr unit (Rs 7,00,000 ÷ 2,000 hours) [S4]. The 750 kg/hr class is therefore the worst capex-amortisation pick purely on kg/hr, while the 2,000 kg/hr class is the most favourable on a per-hour basis.
Switching the metric to Rs per kg, the 2,000 kg/hr machine at Rs 3,00,000 is Rs 150 per kg of rated capacity, the 1,500 kg/hr at Rs 3,50,000 is Rs 233 per kg, and the 750 kg/hr at Rs 7,00,000 is Rs 933 per kg [S4]. The 2,000 kg/hr tier is roughly 6× cheaper per kg of installed capacity than the 750 kg/hr tier, which is the dominant cost-density finding for any buyer comparing catalogs.
On an energy basis, the 2,000 kg/hr automatic is rated at 2 kW total power consumption, while the smaller Indian spiral paper tube machine (500 to 1,000 tubes/hr) draws 2.5 kW [S3][S4]. The Chinese XY-SD-A line draws 4.5 kW, more than double the Indian 2,000 kg/hr unit, which is consistent with the 15 to 20 m/min line speed, a 50 Hz three-phase 380 V supply, and a 25 to 100 mm diameter envelope that the Indian catalog does not match in the kg-class [S1][S4].
What Drives the Price Spread
Automation grade is the single largest listed cost driver. The 2,000 kg/hr class is "automatic" with a powder-coated mild-steel body, 380 V 50 Hz three-phase, 2 kW, and lists at Rs 3,00,000 [S4]. The 1,000 kg/hr class is "semi-automatic" and is not priced on the public page, an absence that is itself a procurement signal: mid-capacity semi-auto units are typically quoted higher per kg because the buyer pays for the same frame and drives without the full inline cutting/glue automation [S4].
Material of construction is identical across the Indian catalog (mild steel body, heavy-duty rollers, powder-coated finish) [S3][S4]. The Chinese XY-SD-A is also mild-steel-framed with a CNC-cut, all-steel main body, vector frequency inverter drive, and an imported PLC controller with a color HMI, specifications that put it above the Indian mid-tier on control electronics but below it on stated power [S1][S5].
Throughput bracket is the second cost driver. The 750 kg/hr unit commands a 100% premium over the 1,500 kg/hr unit (Rs 7,00,000 vs Rs 3,50,000) for half the output, a non-linear price curve that the buyer should treat as a small-batch convenience premium rather than an efficiency premium [S4].
Cutting envelope and grammage range shift the line further. The XY-SD-A covers 25 to 100 mm diameter and 150 to 400 g/m² paper at 15 to 20 m/min with inverter-controlled length, a wider range than the Indian kg-rated machines specify, and a price that must be requested, not listed [S1]. For buyers needing non-standard inner diameters or heavier board, the Chinese line is the only public spec match, with all the procurement friction that a non-listed price implies.
Total Cost of Ownership, Not Just Sticker Price
Sticker price covers only the machine. Indian suppliers typically ship with a 1-year warranty, while the Chinese XY-SD-A ships with a 2-year warranty and "all life maintenance", but the buyer pays round-trip air tickets, visa, food, local transport, and accommodation for the install technician [S1].
Energy cost is small but real. At Rs 8/kWh industrial tariff, the 2,000 kg/hr unit running 2,000 hours/year draws 4,000 kWh/yr, which is Rs 32,000/yr, or Rs 0.016/kg of rated output [S4]. The 4.5 kW XY-SD-A at the same hours draws 9,000 kWh/yr, Rs 72,000/yr, which is Rs 0.10/kg at 15 m/min on a 50 mm core, a ten-fold higher energy intensity per kg than the Indian 2,000 kg/hr unit [S1][S4].
Glue, paper scrap, and knife change drive ongoing consumable cost, but no supplier in the research publishes a glue-consumption figure, and the catalogs therefore leave the buyer to model it from grammage (150 to 400 g/m²) and ply count (2 to 30 plies) [S1]. For a 30-ply, 400 g/m² core at 100 mm diameter, paper input alone is roughly 3.8 kg per metre of core, which means the 2,000 kg/hr line consumes 526 m/hr of finished core, a useful back-of-envelope for capacity planning.
Who Should Buy Which Class
For high-volume packaging lines running 2,000+ hours/year and standard 25 to 100 mm cores, the Indian 2,000 kg/hr automatic at Rs 3,00,000 is the lowest capex per kg (Rs 150/kg) and the lowest published energy draw (2 kW) [S4]. This is also the right class for buyers who already run 380 V 50 Hz three-phase and have PLC-trained maintenance staff.
For mid-volume producers in the 1,000 to 1,500 kg/hr range, the 1,500 kg/hr at Rs 3,50,000 sits in the middle on capex per kg (Rs 233/kg) but has not been benchmarked on power draw in the public catalog, which is a gap the buyer should close before signing [S4]. The 1,000 kg/hr semi-automatic is the right pick only if the buyer values manual changeover flexibility over capex efficiency.
For low-volume, multi-SKU shops needing 500 to 1,000 tubes/hr of small cores, the Rs 20,000 spiral paper tube machine on the same supplier page is the entry pick at 2.5 kW, mild steel, with customisable 25 mm to 3,000 mm cutting length and 1 to 8 mm wall thickness [S3]. This is a different product class (tubes/hr, not kg/hr) and the catalog does not let you cross-compare them on a single axis.
For buyers outside India who need inverter-controlled length, PLC + color HMI, and a 15 to 20 m/min guaranteed line speed, the Chinese XY-SD-A is the only public-spec match, with the procurement caveat that the price is not listed and installation support is on the buyer's account [S1]. Comparable core making machine classes used in foundry sand-core production follow a different cost logic entirely, since they are rated in cores per hour rather than kg of paper, and the buyer should not cross-shop them against the spiral paper units covered here.
Selection Checklist Before Signing the PO
Confirm the rated output is in kg/hr or tubes/hr, and which one the supplier means, because the 20,000 INR "spiral paper tube machine" and the 3,00,000 INR "2000 kg/hr automatic" are not comparable on a single number [S3][S4]. Ask for a price in writing that includes the cutting length range, the maximum paper grammage, the mandrel diameter set, and the inline gluing unit, because the XY-SD-A is the only catalog entry that publishes all four [S1].
Ask for the warranty terms in writing: Indian suppliers typically ship with a 1-year warranty, the Chinese XY-SD-A with 2 years, and neither covers the technician trip cost on the Chinese side [S1][S4]. For foundries or composite-can operations, shell core machine and hot box core machine classes are separate product lines with their own cost-per-core logic and should not be benchmarked against the spiral paper units discussed here.
Two trackable signals for the next 90 days: (1) the 1,000 kg/hr semi-automatic Indian unit moving from "Get a Price/Quote" to a listed INR figure, which would close the largest pricing gap in the catalog, and (2) any Chinese supplier posting a published price for the XY-SD-A line, which would convert the only public-spec spiral paper unit from RFQ-only to apples-to-apples comparison [S1][S4].