The Hindu Business Line : West Coast Paper submits EoI for Govt stake in Hind Paper

MR S.K. BANGUR, Chairman of West Coast Paper Mills Ltd (WCPML), confirmed here on Wednesday that the company, jointly with Rama Newsprint & Paper Ltd, submitted an expression of interest (EoI) for the purchase of 74 per cent of the Union Government's total equity in Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC).

The joint application was made to fulfil a condition that the net worth of the intending bidder for HPC's shares should be at least Rs 400 crore.

Incidentally, the controlling equity stake in Rama Newsprint was recently acquired by the S.K. Bangur group, and the company's entire board has been restructured to establish the group's day-to-day control over the management of the company.

The incumbent management of Rama Newsprint has raised monthly production of newsprint from 7,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes, since it took over.

In addition, the group is still on the race for the purchase of 74 per cent equity share of Hindustan Newsprint Ltd (HNL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of HPC, exclusively producing newsprint. HNL has a plant in Kerala with an annual production capacity of over 1,00,000 tonnes of newsprint.

Meanwhile, Mr R.R. Vederah, Executive Vice-President of Ballarpur Industries Ltd (Bilt), also confirmed from New Delhi that Bilt had submitted EoI for HPC.

It may noted that HPC is one the largest manufacturers of writing and printing paper in the country with an installed capacity of 2,00,000 tonnes per annum. The company has two integrated pulp and paper mills in Assam, one at Naogaon and the other at Cachar.

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