Assam Govt. to revamp Nagaon and Cachar Paper Mills, Rs 800 Crore Proposal

Assam Govt. to revamp Nagaon and Cachar Paper Mills, Rs 800 Crore Proposal

Guwahati, 22 Sep 2017; A Rs. 800 crore proposal has been prepared for revamping Nagaon Paper Mill and reviving Cachar Mill, as the information was conveyed to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in a crucial meeting held with the Secretary of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in New Delhi on Thursday. In the meeting, Secretary Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Girish Shankar apprised Sonowal of the Ministry’s (Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises) Rs 800 crore proposal for revamping both Nagaon and Cachar Paper Mills. The proposal has already been processed for vetting which is being conducted by FITCS. It may be mentioned that Sonowal for quite some time has been demanding for increasing the installed capacity of Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad and reviving Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram which has been shut due to shortage of raw materials.         

Emphasising on the fast-track reopening of Cachar Paper Mill and revamping of Nagaon Paper Mill, Sonowal said that the State Government would relax VAT on bamboo and coal for the paper mills. Cachar Paper Mill (CPM), a unit of Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) is facing financial crisis on account of non-availability of coal owing to blanket ban imposed by National Green Tribunal on mining and transportation of coal in the state of Meghalaya wherefrom 100% requirement of CPM used to come. Coal cannot be sourced from other sources as there is no broad gauge linkage inside CPM premises. This paper mill has been shutting down every now and then for last few years due to shortage of raw material thereby incurring huge losses. Cachar Paper Mill (CPM) is the only major industrial undertaking in south Assam and the adjoining states of Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura. Despite lack of infrastructural facilities in a remote location, CPM has a continuous record of steady improvement. During the year 2006-07, the mill recorded the highest annual production of 1,03,155 MT registering over 103% capacity utilization, which was 100% during the previous year.

Web Title: Assam Govt to revamp Nagaon and Cachar Paper Mills Rs 800 Crore Proposal