Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises meets
GOVERNMENT FORMS A HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE FOR PAPER INDUSTRY
The Union Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Shri Sontosh Mohan Dev has ordered to form a high level committee headed by the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises to look into the raw material and related problems of the paper industry situated in the north-eastern region. Shri Dev was addressing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting of the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises here today. The subject was “Paper Industry in the North-Eastern Region: Potential and Prospects”.
Shri Dev said in his address that it is widely held that per capita consumption of paper is an indicator of development and literacy. The average per capita consumption of paper in India is merely 7 kg. per annum against the Asian average of 28 kg. per annum. He, however, said that the brighter side of the picture is that the demand for paper in India is on the rise and thus this seems to be the appropriate time for an expansion drive in the existing mills as well as venturing into Greenfield projects in the sector.
Referring to the infrastructural bottlenecks of the region, the Minister expressed the hope that once “East-West Corridor” connecting Kohima/Silchar to Porbander comes into existence, movement of incoming and outgoing materials would be smooth.
The Minister of State, Shri Raghunath Jha also spoke on this occasion.
Earlier, the CMD of Hindustan Paper Corporation, (HPC) Shri Raji Philip explained the problems of paper industry in the north-eastern region in general and the achievements of HPC despite several constraints through a presentation. HPC, a PSE in the Department of Heavy Industry has two operating paper mills in the north-east – Nagaon Paper Mill and Cachar Paper Mill. Both the mills are profit making and are operating at more than 100% capacity utilisation. HPC has been continuously making profit since Financial Year 1996-97 and has paid Rs.60.40 crore as dividend and towards redemption of preference shares to the Government of India in last two years. On March 8, 2007, MoU Excellence Award was conferred on HPC by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on the basis of the company’s performance during 2005-06. Revival scheme for the company’s paper mill in Nagaland – a joint venture of HPC and Govt. of Nagaland, i.e. Nagaland Pulp & Paper Company (NPPC) is under implementation.
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MG/SR
(Release ID :37754)