A joint venture between Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd (HPC) and Govt. of Nagaland, the Mill was established in 1971 but suspended in October 1992 due to “continued operating losses.”
In a telephonic interview with The Morung Express, Public Relation Officer (PRO) of NPPC, Ashirbad Roy, stated, “The paper mill will be running at its full capacity by February 2016, give and take 2-3 months.” Informing that the revival is in “full swing,” he said, “14 major packages have been received at the plant, the tentative paper boiler will be operational in one week and the engineers are starting work at the plant.”
He explained that most of the persons in the company’s payroll were given a “golden handshake” through voluntary retirement—the NPPC presently has 189 employees. “25 new trainees from the State will soon be inducted into the plant,” Roy added.
According to the NPPC’s website, with an installed capacity of 100 tons per day (tpd), the Mill was established primarily to exploit the abundant power resources with an objective to “promote, establish, execute and run industries, projects or enterprises for manufacturing, selling and/or export of pulp, paper, newsprint and various products from pulp and paper.”
However, due to accumulating operating loss, production was suspended and the plant has been in limbo ever since. The PRO stated that the main reason behind its failure was the “faulty supply of power,” making the plant “inefficient and expensive.” The incumbent government of the period failed to keep its promises of supplying constant power supply, he added. Moreover, the precarious political situation in Nagaland in the late 80s and early 90s, as well as apparent political interference, also affected the production to some extent, Roy maintained.
This time around, again, the State government has pledged a “constant” supply of 2 megawatts per day to the plant. “The plant itself can generate up to 9 megawatts (8.5 mw) per day internally once it is fully operational, avoiding the need for an outside source,” asserted the PRO.
The approval for the Mill’s revival was given by the Government of India on June, 2013 with an estimated cost of Rs. 489 crore for the first phase and Rs. 190 crore for the second. “Last month, the Government of India has given a dateline of 0-24 months for its total completion,” said Roy.
The plant, after its full revival, will have an equity share of 90:10 between the HPC and Government of Nagaland, he informed. “All the stakeholders as well as the general public from the Governor to the village councils to various NGOs are enthusiastically supporting our effort and eagerly waiting for its full resumption,” the PRO stated optimistically.
Source: Morung Express
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