FMCG major ITC Ltd has assured the Telangana government that it will consider the prospect of reviving ailing paper mill of BILT (AP Rayon) located in Warangal (Jai Shankar Bhoopalapally district) of the State.
Responding to the request of Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao calling upon ITC to handhold and revive sick paper mill, YC Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC, responded positively stating, “We will do so provided the State backs the move with certain incentives”.
Speaking after the formal inauguration of the ITC Kohenur, a luxury hospitality project in the IT hub of Hitec City in Hyderabad, Rao said: “The revival of the paper mill will help save the jobs of over 2,000 people and help the local economy.”
The Minister said with the support of the State government and lenders, similar efforts made to revive another sick paper unit, Sirpur Paper Mills Ltd, has yielded results with the mills on the verge of being taken over.
After the formation of the new State about four years ago, efforts are under way to revive various sick units, including the Ramagundam fertiliser plant and both the sick paper mills.
The State extended a slew of sops and negotiated with bankers to find a suitor for Sirpur Paper Mills Ltd. JK Paper is likely to help revive it after the NCLT Hyderabad is close to approving its resolution plan.
Big investments
Sanjiv Puri, Managing Director, ITC, said: “The company has invested about ₹2,500 crore in Telangana over the past four years across various segments, including paper mill, food business and hospitality. We plan to invest about the same amount over the next three years.”
ITC is at advanced stage of commissioning a, ₹800-crore integrated food processing, manufacturing and logistics unit at Medak district of Telangana, he said.
ITC plans to make its brands such as Aashirvaad, Sunfest, Bingo1, Yippee1 and others at the new facility spread over 59 acres, with a built up area of 7 lakh sq ft.
The company has also invested in expansion of the paper unit at the ITC Bhadrachalam in Telangana which is home to two of ITC's largest paper manufacturing plants at Bhadrachalam and Bollarum.