New Delhi : India has emerged as the fastest growing paper market amongst large economies in the world. In the last 10 years, the domestic demand has almost doubled from around 9 million tonnes in FY 2007-08 to over 17 million tonnes in 2017-18. The Industry estimates the overall paper demand to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 6-7%, reaching to about 20 million tonnes by FY 2019-20, this was stated by Mr Saurabh Bangur, President Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) at 19^th Annual Session of Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA),

According to IPMA,  Make in India in paper is threatened in view of comparatively higher cost of raw material especially wood and cheaper imports which have been growing at a pace faster than growth in domestic production.

Even as the industry is grappling with the issue of producing paper and paperboard at competitive cost, the problem has been exacerbated by the Government’s policy of extending preferential tariff treatment to import of paper and paperboard under the different free trade agreements (FTAs) and other bilateral and multilateral trade agreements and pacts.

“Paper is a key segment of Indian industry and Government is committed to ensure domestic manufacturing.  Government will consult the industry before embarking upon any further Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Domestic players need to get priority to meet the demand. One of the main objectives of the trade policy has to be promotion of domestic manufacturing”, said Mr Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation and Chief Guest on the occasion.

“With a per capita consumption of paper being only 13-14 kgs per annum in India as compared to the global average of 57 kgs – not to talk about around 200 kgs in developed countries – the opportunity for growth in our country is huge”, said Mr Harsh Pati Singhania, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, JK Paper Ltd

“We have effectively tried to counter the myth that use of paper implies cutting of forests which is not the case at all in India. The wood for manufacturing of paper comes from cultivated trees grown by farmers. Paper Industry in India is not a forest-based industry rather it is an agro-based and rural-based industry in India. Industry has been joining forces with farmers to grow more and more trees under agro / farm forestry initiative”, said Mr A S Mehta President-Elect of IPMA.

According to IPMA, growing and harvesting trees by Paper Industry is providing jobs for lakhs of farmers in rural areas. The agro / farm forestry initiative of Paper Industry spreads across approximately 900,000 hectares and over 90% of the demand for wood by the industry is sourced from industry driven agro / farm forestry. About 500,000 farmers are productively employed in this agro / farm forestry initiative. No other industry has undertaken work of a similar nature on such a large scale anywhere in the country.

Imports of paper and paperboard into India have been steadily increasing. In the last seven years, imports have risen at a CAGR of 16.11% in value terms (from INR 3,411 crores in 2010-11 to INR 9,702 crores in 2017-18), and 18.15% in volume terms (from 0.54 million tonnes in 2010-11 to 1.72 million tonnes in 2017-18). Imports are growing at a very high rate as compared to the increase in domestic production rate.