Emami to invest Rs 500 cr to ramp up paper biz

Emami Group company Emami Paper Mills (EPM) today said it will invest around Rs 500 crore to double its newsprint production capacity to 3 lakh tonnes per year in the next two and half years.

After the expansion, the company said it expects to more than double its turnover to Rs 1,000 crore in the next three to four years.

"We will invest around Rs 500 crore on increasing the production capacity of our plant in Orissa. After the expansion, we will double the capacity to 3 lakh tonnes a year," Emami Group Director Aditya Agarwal told PTI.

EPM has two plants in Orissa and West Bengal with a total production capacity of 1.5 lakh tonnes of newsprint per annum.

Agarwal said the firm will start a new line to hike production at its Orissa plant and will mainly be used for recycling papers.

"50 per cent of the newsprint is being imported in India. So, we see a good business potential. If we can increase the capacity, the dependency on import can go down," he said.

The company, which had a turnover of around Rs 400 crore, supplies newsprint to several national dailies like Times of India, Hindustan Times and Deccan Chronicle.

"Once we can double the capacity, our newsprint business and turnover will also be doubled and eventually our customer base will also increase," he said.