India’s paper industry’s green initiatives start to pay off

Speaking at the conference hosted by the CII and Green Business Council held in Hyderabad in the middle of July, Viswanthan, who is also the deputy managing director of Seshasayee Paper & Boards Limited, said that several steps initiated to save on power and water consumption about five years have begun to yield excellent results.

“This process will continue to make the country’s paper and pulp industry world class,” he said.

The changes in one part of the world are impacting the sector around the world. While this is a challenge, it provides new opportunities for industries willing to progress with the changing energy scenario.

Paper demand continues to be good but the sector players are faced with difficulty in securing raw material requirement. About 60% of paper made in the country is from wood, 35% from waste paper and 5% from sugar bagasse. India is faced with the challenge of meeting the raw material requirement, Sehsasayee said.

The paper industry has managed to bring down its energy consumption by about 20% in the last five years. From an average energy consumption of 1,700kWh per tonne, it has now come down to 1,300kWh per tonne. The government’s ‘Perform Achieve Trade’ scheme has also encouraged the industry to change, he said. Referring to recent developments, he said, “Tamil Nadu for instance now expects industry to use about 6% of energy requirement from the solar energy sector. This is a good move but will take time to take shape.”

“While paper as a commodity will always be in demand in some form or the other, the focus has been to improve internal efficiency in production and bring down reliance on fossil fuels and focus on renewable energy,” Sanjay Singh,Vice President IPMA and Divisional Chief Executive, ITC PSPD, said.

A. Chandra Sekhar Reddy, Member Secretary, Energy, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said that the State Government was planning to provide incentives to energy-efficient industries.