Study of India’s Paper Industry- Potential and Growth in 21st Century

This research Study focuses growth and development of paper industries in India. Paper touches our lives every moment. The paper industry in India is growing in a rapid speed with demand increment and opportunity creation and attraction to the international players. Paper products are used in education, healthcare, food, trade, communication and packaging. The population of India has been growing at a significant pace which has led to the increase in the paper consumption as each individual utilizes paper and other related products .Paper Industry in India is moving up with a strong demand push and is in expansion mode to meet the projected demand of 20 Million tons by 2020. Introduction of paper industry in India:The paper industry in India could be classified into three categories according to the raw material consumed. 1. Wood based 2. Waste paper based 3. Agro based The Indian paper industry produces 10.11 million tons paper per annum, just 1.6% of the total world production of 394 million tons, paperboard and newsprint. Needless to say, at present, India lags far behind compared to international standards. The Scandinavian countries, USA, Russia, China, Indonesia and Japan are the major players in the field of pulp and paper. These countries have some of the best available raw material for paper production and state-of-the-art technology. “Some of the major players in the paper industry of India are BILT, ITC Paperboards & Specialty Papers Division, APPM, SPB, TNPL, Rainbow Papers, JK Papers Ltd., Century Pulp and Paper, The West Coast Paper Millis Ltd., Hindustan Paper and Abhisek Industries Ltd. “The industry requires around 2.5 million of land for pulpwood plantation to fully meet the requirement. Therefore, government support is required,” said Yogesh Agarwal, president of the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association. Accordance with the economic growth and is estimated to touch 13.95 million tons by 2015-16. It is estimated that there would be an increase in demand of 1 million tons. As per industry estimates, paper production grew at a CAGR of 8.4% while paper consumption grew at a CAGR of 9% in 2012-13 History Of Paper Industry The word paper derives from the Greek term for the ancient Egyptian writing material called papyrus, which was formed from beaten strips of papyrus plants. The immediate predecessor to modern paper is believed to have originated in China in approximately the 2nd century CE, although there is some evidence for it being used before this date. Papermaking is considered to be one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China, since the first papermaking process was developed in China during the early 2nd century CE by the Han court eunuch Cai Lun. China used paper as an effective and cheap alternative to silk, letting them sell more silk, leading to a Golden Age. The use of paper spread from China through the Islamic world, and entered production in Europe in the early 12th century. Mechanized production of paper in the early 19th century caused significant cultural changes worldwide, allowing for relatively cheap exchange of information in the form of letters, newspapers and books for the first time. In 1844, both Canadian inventor Charles Fenerty and German inventor F.G. Keller had invented the machine and process for pulping wood for the use in paper making.[1] This would end the nearly 2000-year use of pulped rags and start a new era for the production of newsprint and eventually all paper out of pulped wood.