Adapt to coming era, paper trade told

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 22. The paper trade and industry should adapt themselves to the rising clout of investors and consumers due to growth of information technology (IT) and globalisation of markets, Mr. Gautam Thapar, doyen of the paper industry and Managing Director of Ballarpur Industries, said here today.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day 40th annual general meeting and conference of the Federation of Paper Traders' Associations of India (FPTA), Mr. Thapar said the paper industry would hereafter find the cost of capital high unless it was able to satisfy investors on matters like return on equity and assets since capital was free to flow wherever the returns were satisfactory.

With IT equipping consumers with knowledge of alternative products, prices and options, the industry should change from `pushing what is manufactured' to need-based manufacturing, Mr. Thapar said.

Mr. Mahesh Khandelwal, President, FPTA, called for grant of `industrial input' status for paper on par with paper board for the purpose of taxation. The paper industry was in the downtrend but concern over damage to ecology caused by plastics could strengthen the demand for paper. The trade was in the final stage of establishing an organisation jointly with the Indian Paper Mills' Association (IPMA) to improve customer service, he said. Mr. Pradeep Dhobale, Managing Director, ITC Bhadrachalam, said merchant enterprises would increasingly take over the function of customer relations management and supply chain management with the help of IT while mills would concentrate on production. Mr. M. Annamalai, chairman of the reception committee of the conference, deplored the failure of a large number of paper consumers to liquidate the loans taken by them from the trade.

Mr. N. Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd (TNPL), a State government undertaking, said the trade should appreciate the burden faced by the industry by way of compliance with ecological standards.

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