Emami to Hike Paperboard Investment in India's Market

 

Emami Paper Mills, India, the country's largest newsprint manufacturer, has decided to increase investment in paperboard to Rs 2,000 crore in the next three years to strengthen its diversification in the country's new high-margin segment.

"We want to double the capacity of paperboard from 1.3 metric tpy over the next three years," Emami Paper Representative P.S. Patwari said to the Business Standard (New Delhi, India).

Buoyant growth of consumerism has recently led to diversification into multi-layered coated paperboard production in Balasore and the company will continue to focus on the value added paperboard segment worth Rs 4,000 crore, Emami Group Director Aditya Agarwal said in the report. The segment is expanding at the rate of 15% per year and higher capacity addition is no threat to the industry given the growth trend.

Agarwal said that in 2016-17 onwards, at least 60% revenue of Emami paper will come from specialty paperboard.Though the company is the largest domestic newsprint producer in the country, it has no plan to expand due to unfavourable government outlook on Indian newsprint makers, the company officials said.

Emami is running trial production of the 1.3 metric tpy capacity paperboard unit and said it will start commercial production this month with a 20% market share in the country.