According to a Wednesday (March 23) report by the Hindu Business Line (Chennai, India), ITC (Kolkotta, India) is setting up a ₹450-crore unit at Bhadrachalam with a capacity of 1 lakh metric tons per year to manufacture bleached chemi-thermo mechanical pulp (BCTMP), an import substitute item.

Sanjay Singh (photo), divisional chief executive, ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division, said that "this will be the first plant in India manufacturing "Made in India BCTMP," resulting in savings of $50 million per year on foreign exchange.

 

The project requires about 150,000 metric tpy of local wood. This will be grown and procured through farm forestry plantation activities, thereby creating significant livelihood opportunities for farmers," said Singh.

Responding to queries from Business Line, Singh said the project, located at the Bhadrachalam unit of ITC Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division in Khammam district of Telangana, is expected to be completed by Q3 of 2017. The BCTMP is used in the middle portion of virgin packaging paperboards. This forms the main body providing bulk and strength to the paperboard.

On ITC’s PSPD Bhadrachalam plans for expansion with an outlay of ₹4,500 crore, Singh said the project has been awaiting land allotment by the government for the past several years. The environmental clearance is also linked to the allotment of land.

Addressing the renewable energy segment of ITC in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Singh said that "ITC has invested in a wind energy project at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh in 2014 by installing a 14 MW wind farm to supply to its units at Chirala and Anaparti. In addition, the company has also invested in a 36-MW wind farm to supply to its unit in Bhadrachalam. This project was planned in the year 2013."

"By the time the project got commissioned, the State bifurcation took place and as a result, ITC is now unable to use the 36-MW intended for the Bhadrachalam plant, despite the la rge investment, as its application for inter-state transfer was unfortunately not cleared by AP Transco," he explained.

ITC is supplying the power to the AP at a meager price of ₹2.44 per unit and also losing the Renewable Energy Certificates worth ₹1.50 for each unit. The matter is pending with the state electricity department and Central Electricity Regulation Commission. Though the project is generating green energy, ITC is unable to use it as envisaged for its power consumption.

ITC's Paperboards Division uses around 45% of its energy from renewable sources, Singh explained.