| Top paper companies meeting in the city under the banner of Indian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (IPPTA) released this figure ahead of their two-day technical session. |
| IPPTA office bearers include Pradeep Dhobale, chief executive of paperboard and specialty division of ITC Ltd, R C Mall, executive director of Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills, K S Kasi Viswanathan, president (operations) of Seshasayee Paper and Boards, and Mahendra Patel, executive secretary of IPPTA. |
| Dhobale, also IPPTA president, said, "The capital requirement is almost $1 billion if industry opts for international technology. One of the main challenges before the industry was to implement environmental standards using affordable substitutes for foreign technology." |
| Several foreign technology suppliers would attend the seminar which would address environmental issues included reduction in consumption of water as well as chlorine. |
| Dhobale said the industry was also running short of raw materials, while cost of power and capital were also going up. The industry had long gestation period and low margins, so few financial institutions were keen to extend cheap capital to paper units. |
| Raw material supply could be raised through amendment of the forestry policy. Dhobale said paper makers had been lobbying for the change and had launched their own efforts to overcome the problem. |
| Tamil Nadu government had agreed to let ITC use state land on long lease for forestation. Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments had signed similar arrangements with paper companies. In addition, companies had been persuading individual land owners to grow wood. The initiative has received "good" response. |
| Paper makers defended the recent rise in paper prices, pointing out even after the hikes, market rates were below 1995 levels for many types. |
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