Emami Paper earmarks Rs 500cr for buys

Emami Paper Mills, the Kolkata-based newsprint manufacturer, has planned to acquire two paper mills in Maharashtra and earmarked about Rs 500 crore for the purpose.

The company, which has recently undertaken a greenfield project at Balasore in Orissa, was holding talks with two existing units in Maharashtra to fuel inorganic growth, Aditya Agarwal, director, Emami group told PTI.

Without disclosing the units identified, he said the company has earmarked an investment of Rs 500 crore for acquiring those units.

Aiming to be the largest private player in the newsprint industry, the company has started setting up a new unit at Balasore adjacent to its plant there.

"The Balasore unit, set up at an investment of Rs 350 crore, will be commissioned by March, 2007. Once commissioned, it will add a capacity of about 85,000 tonne per annum (TPA)," agarwal said.

Emami Paper, belonging to the diversified Emami group, currently had a total production capacity of 56,000 TPA at its two existing mills at Balasore and Dakshineswar (West Bengal).

Meanwhile, the group, which clocked a turnover of Rs 550 crore in 2004-05, was expected to witness a strong growth to about Rs 800 crore during the current fiscal.