The workforce at Mondipatti unit of Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited is expected to go up substantially after the expansion project for which Chief Minister Edappadi P Palaniswami flagged off the construction works through video-conference earlier this month.
The manpower will increase by about 2,000, both direct and indirect, once the project is completed, in addition to the existing workforce of 600 permanent employees and an equal number of contract employees, General Manager of TNPL Plant at Mondipatti David Manickam said.
The multilayer double-coated board plant with a capacity of two lakh tonne went on stream in 2016. The TNPL Board had, last year, approved investment of ₹2,520 crore for implementing the expansion project at Mondipatti in phases, to enhance capacity by 1.65 lakh tonnes per annum.
The project will feature installation of a state-of-the-art 400 tonnes per day chemical hardwood pulping along with chemical recovery faciity and augmentation of service utilities including captive power plant and waste water treatment plant. Work on the first phase expansion at a cost of ₹1,100 crore is expected to be completed by May 2021.
The plan is to increase captive power generation capacity from 30 MW to 80 MW. The modern waste water treatment plant in the unit channels the entire waste water generated from the mill to be used for irrigating a plantation area of 575 acres to raise various varieties of fruit bearing, flowering, and avenue trees including some pulp wood species. As many as six lakh trees are proposed to be raised through drip irrigation.
The township for employees will also expand gradually. At present, the living quarters in the township accommodates 250 out of 600 permanent employees. A school and a hospital will also be coming up. The school will be established first, Mr. David Manickam said.
