Speaking to reporters here, Indian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (IPPTA) past president and Seshasayee Paper and Boards Ltd deputy managing director  K S Kasi Viswanathan said, ‘the talks are at an advanced stage.

We hope at least a minimum of Rs 300 crore will be announced during the budget session under the Technology Upgradation Fund.

Though the industry is poised to grow at a rapid rate, many companies have stopped investment due to lack of funds. The need of the hour is technology upgradation.’ He said the funding would help increase total installed capacity from 10,000 million tonnes to 20,000 million tonnes over the next 10 years.

‘It is estimated the paper industry would grow at a CAGR of 7 to 8 per cent over next decade. Over Rs 10,000 crore is planned to be spent in capacity building in next few years which will increase total paper production capacity by 30 per cent.’ Viswanathan said India would overtake the US and Japan in paper manufacture in another 30 years after China.

Currently, the US contributed one-third of global production, he said. On the challenges faced by the industry he said rising costs and shortage of raw materials were a cause for concern.

Viswanathan was here to officially announce a two-day seminar on ‘Preparedness of Indian Paper Industry for the Decade’ which began today.

The Mysore Paper Mills Ltd director N P Prabhu and Shreyans Industries Ltd executive director Anil Kumar also shared their views on the paper industry in India.