New Delhi, Delhi, India: With a 6-7 percent growth rate, India is the world’s fastest growing paper market. However inadequate availability of raw materials and the government’s policy of extending preferential tariff treatment to paper imports under free trade agreements (FTAs) has left industry exposed to cheaper imports that hurt domestic manufacturing, experts said at the Hyderabad 13th edition of PaperTech 2019 (Sept 16-18). PaperTech is jointly owned by CII and the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) to make Indian Paper Industry world-class.
“India represents the global industry’s island of growth. The expansion of the middle class, urbanization, higher disposable incomes and growth in print media are providing a fillip for India’s paper consumption. Lifestyle changes are also leading to increase in packaging levels across different FMCG products and since paper is environment friendly, being fully recyclable and biodegradable, it is preferred over many other materials.” said A S Mehta, President, Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) in his special address.
Speaking on the occasion, IPMA Past President and Chairman of PaperTech 2019 Sanjay Singh said, “PaperTech has been an exemplary effort by CII and IPMA has led to a great deal of industry-wide sharing of best practices leading to significant water and energy savings.”
According to IPMA, Paper industry has managed to bring down its energy consumption by about 20 percent in the last five years. Integrated paper mills in India now generate 50-60 percent of the power they use by utilising the black liquor from the pulping process. In the first two cycles of PAT (Perform Achieve Trade) scheme of the Government, the paper industry significantly over-achieved the mandated stiff targets for energy saving.
On the water front, a few years ago, paper industry used to consume 200 cubic metres of water to produce a tonne of paper. Now, the integrated mills have reduced that to 50 cubic metres. Efforts are on to bring it further down to 35-40 cubic metres.
K S Kasi Viswanathan, Managing Director, SPB Limited was congratulated on his long association and significant contribution to the Indian paper industry during the PaperTech 2019.
IPMA has been partnering with CII for the past several years to organize PaperTech with the theme’ Make Indian Pulp & Paper Industry World Class’ with the support of all stakeholder organizations. The goal is to facilitate ongoing improvement of energy, water and environmental performance in Indian paper industry and to help Indian paper mills achieve world-class standards.