Adilabad district, which has already lost much in terms of employment opportunities with the closure of the Sirsilk textile mill at Sirpur-Kagaznagar, the Cement Corporation of India (CCI) unit at Adilabad town and a number of small and medium factories, is not in a position to lose more on this count.
One of the oldest paper mills in the country, the Sirpur Paper Mills (SPM) also located at Sirpur-Kagaznagar, is likely to face closure as it has turned into a loss-making unit over the last few years. The future of about 3,200 members of its workforce (1,550 permanent workers, 1,150 contract workers and 500 of the staff) is at stake as there is still no sign of the mill resuming production even though a month has lapsed since production was suspended.
The SPM was established in 1936 by the Nizam of Hyderabad and production of paper started in 1942. In the 1950s, it was purchased by the C.K. Birla group and later transferred to the Poddars.
The mill started with 6 paper producing machines and two more were added in 2007-2008 as part of modernisation while production was increased to 300 tonnes per day. Ironically, the unit started making losses from the following year, ending up with a cumulative loss of Rs. 200 crore this year.
“The sharp hike in the price of raw materials from Rs. 3,000 per Air Drive Tonnes in 2010 to Rs. 10,000 per ADT at present has pushed us into the red. Moreover, the shortage of power supply has made paper production unviable here,” says the vice-president of SPM, B.C. Sharma.
Sirpur MLA Koneu Konappa, however, rubbishes the claim of the management on the issue of costly raw material. He accuses the management of foul play.
Not wanting to get into a debate, the executive association at the SPM wants the government to intervene by way of organising financial aid for the mill. “It could be in the form of an interest free loan of Rs. 100 crore from some government agency as over 1 lakh people in Kagaznagar town are dependent on the SPM,” observe association president K. Rama Rao and secretary Abid Ahmed.
