The paper industry in India is more than a century old. At present there are over 800 paper mills manufacturing a wide variety of items required by the consumers. These paper mills are manufacturing industrial grades, cultural grades and other specialty papers. The paper industry in India could be classified into 3 categories according to the raw material consumed.
Wood based Agro based &
Waste paper based
While the number of wood based mills is around 20 and balance 780 mills are based on non-conventional raw materials. The Govt. of India has relaxed the rules and regulations and also de-licensed the paper industry to encourage investment into this sector and joint venture is allowed and some of the joint ventures have also started in India. The paper industry in India is looking for state-of-art technologies to reduce its production cost and to upgrade the technology to meet the international standards.
• Accounts for about 1.6% of the worldwide production of paper and paperboard.
• Estimated Industry turnover: - Rs 25,000 crore (USD 5.95 billion)
• Contribution to the exchequer around: - Rs. 2918 crore (USD 0.69 billion).
• Provides employment to more than 0.12 million people directly and 0.34 million people indirectly.
• The industry was delicenced effective from July, 1997 by the Government of India.
Production capacity and Demand
• Operating capacity currently stands at 9.3 million tons.
• As per industry guesstimates, over all paper consumption (including newsprint) has now touched 8.86 million tons and per capita consumption is pegged at 8.3 kg.
Growth
• The growth in paper industry has mirrored the growth in GDP and has grown on an average 6-7 per cent over the last few years.
• India is the fastest growing market for paper globally and it presents an exciting scenario.
• Estimated to touch 13.95 million tons by 2015-16.
• As per industry estimates, paper production are likely to grow at a CAGR of 8.4% while