Date:29/09/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/09/29/stories/2005092902740800.htm

Back ITC seeks Rs 200-cr carbon credits

Our Bureau

Chennai , Sept. 28

ITC Ltd is seeking carbon credits for its massive farm forestation programme, and expects about Rs 200 crore over the next 10 years. But the company will not (cannot) keep the money — it will go to the tribals who own the land.

ITC, which needs wood for its paperboards business, has so far planted 100 million saplings over a 30,000-hectare area. The land belongs to villagers or tribals. The company gives the saplings and buys back the wood from the landowners.

The company proposes to scale up its afforestation effort to cover 1 lakh hectares, planting 600 million saplings over the next 8-10 years. This, incidentally, is expected to generate 40 million mandays of employment in the rural areas.

ITC's presence in pulp-based value chain offers huge scope for wasteland development through promotion of agro forestry.

In an informal chat with journalists here today, ITC's Director-Finance, Mr K. Vaidyanath, said that the company had engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to help it secure carbon credits. Mr Vaidyanath was here to deliver a lecture on `Effective Audit Committee — ITC Experience', organised by the Asian Centre for Corporate Governance.