BNPM gets green nod to increase bank note paper production

The government's Bank Note Paper Mill India (BNPM) has received green signal to increase the production of bank note paper at its Mysuru unit in Karnataka from 12,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) to 16,000 TPA.

BNPM is a jont venture of Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (BRBNMPL) and Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL).

The company had sought environment clearance (EC) for increasing the bank note paper production from 12,000 TPA to 19,000 TPA without adding any machinery and pollution load.

"The Environment Ministry, however, gave the EC for raising the production up to 16,000 TPA after taking inputs from the expert committee," a senior government official said.

The approval is subject to compliance of certain conditions including developing greenbelt in 33 per cent of the project area.

BNPM presently has developed greenbelt in 8.5 acres out of the total area of 41 acres. The expert panel of the ministry, however, has observed that the plantation being developed was not as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) norms, the official added.

The BNPM's unit at Note Mudran Nagar in Mysuru has a state-of-art machinery imported from Germany and other European countries. Raw material used for manufacturing of currency paper is 100 per cent cotton sourced from neighbouring countries.