India’s Paper Industry accounts for about 5% of the world’s production of paper. The estimated
turnover of the industry is over INR 1,00,000 crore and its contribution to the exchequer is over
INR 5,000 crore. The industry provides direct employment to 500,000 persons, and indirectly to
around 1.5 million.
Most of the paper mills are in existence for a long time and hence present technologies fall in a
wide spectrum ranging from oldest to the most modern. The mills use a variety of raw material viz.
wood, bamboo, recovered paper, bagasse, wheat straw, etc. In terms of share in total production,
approximately 18-20% is based on wood, 74-76% on recycled fibre and 6-8% on agro-residue.
The geographical spread of the industry, as well as market, is mainly responsible for the regional
balance of production and consumption.
The per capita paper consumption in India at around 16 kg, is way behind the global average of
57kg.
India is the fastest-growing market for paper globally and it presents an exciting scenario; paper
consumption is poised for a big leap forward in sync with economic growth. The futuristic view is
that growth in paper consumption would be in multiples of GDP and hence an increase in
consumption by one kg per capita would lead to an increase in demand of 1 million tonnes.