Revival of Sirpur Paper Mill on schedule

Machine number 7 started production a few days back

February 24, 2019 07:34 pm | Updated 07:34 pm IST - ADILABAD

The SPM gate is a beehive of activity as shift workers enter the factory in Kagaznagar town. Production has started again in the factory earlier this month after a four-year gap.

The SPM gate is a beehive of activity as shift workers enter the factory in Kagaznagar town. Production has started again in the factory earlier this month after a four-year gap.

Reviving a long closed factory, according to experts, needs repairs not only for its machinery but for emotions of people associated with it, especially those from the working class. This is exactly what is going on in the recently reopened Sirpur Paper Mill (SPM) in Kagaznagar town of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district where the management is making efforts to absorb as many workers and employees who underwent a turmoil due to closure of the mill over four years back.

Mayank Jindal, the unit head of SPM, now being run by JK Paper Limited, told The Hindu that the management is getting the factory back on rails slowly but steadily. “Employees are returning too,” he asserted as he talked about the emotional aspect involved in inducting workers and employees from the old set up.

“We are absorbing the maximum possible from among them. Some have been rendered physically unfit, some others retired but others are being given a fair chance at being absorbed into the present system,” he observed.

SPM had suspended production of paper in September 2014 and after unstinted efforts of Telangana Government, the unit was handed over to JK Paper Limited in August last year for rejuvenation. The process of revival is on schedule with the first of the eight machines, machine number 7, starting paper production a few days back.

“In March, one more machine will go operational followed by third one in May and fourth in September,” Mr. Jindal gave out the schedule. “The company plans to produce 1.36 lakh tonnes of paper annually, which is much above the nearly 1 lakh tonnes achieved during 2012-13 by the earlier dispensation,” he revealed.

The paper mill of Nizam-era vintage is expecting to produce 40% more than the maximum production per year achieved earlier by using just four machines. It will produce writing and printing paper, for which the SPM was well known.

The management also claims to have the crucial aspect of pollution control while going through repairs to the machinery. “We have revamped and repaired the effluent treatment plant in the factory to ensure that there is no pollution in the area,” Mr. Jindal promised.

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