Aryan Packaging Industries was established in 1948 by Mr. Krishnalal Shah and Mr. Mansukhlal Seth in Dadar. At the time, the company and its operations were limited to being paper corrugators within one-room premises. In 1977, the company shifted manufacturing operations to Vapi, Gujarat, while retaining headquarters and marketing operations in Mumbai. Later, Mr. Sunil Shah set up Aryan Paper Mills Private Limited in Vapi in 1989. Since then, its business units have expanded in the recycling of paper with an integrated paper recycling mill and manufacturing of paper board and paper cartons with state-of-art technology and machinery. Today, Aryan Paper Mill is an established name in the paper and packaging industry of India. With over 50 years of experience in the paper and packaging industry, we manufacture our own paper used for packaging, its Director, Mr. Mihir Shah, informs Paper Mart in an interaction.
Paper Mart: Tell us about your new paper mill. Please explain the new mills’ machinery/infrastructure setup.
Mihir Shah: The new paper mill is equipped with a state-of-the-art paper machine with the capability to operate in multiple segments. The machine, with a trim width of 5.1 m, is very well designed with design inputs of key suppliers like Kadant, Saloni Paper Machines, Globe Radio Company, Bellmer and Valmet.
PM: What is the target production capacity, and product categories that it is going to cater to?
MS: We will commence with 400 TPD and gradually progress as per requirements. We shall be making kraft paper from 75 GSM to 300 GSM. The machine is capable to manufacture multiple grades of paper. Our target segments would be corrugation grades, packaging grades, E flute cartons, paper bags/ envelopes, and HRCT, besides other specialized grades.
PM: Please elaborate on the technologies incorporated into the mill.
MS: The mill is very well-configured. The key suppliers are Kadant for stock preperation, Valmet for both head boxes, Saloni Paper Machines for framings, shoe press by Bellmer and rewinder by Globe Radio Company. The shoe press will have one of the heaviest loads in India and enable us to provide one of the highest SCT/RCT in India. We are one of 2 mills in Western India to have a shoe press. The stock prep by Kadant, headbox by Valmet & shoe press by Kadant are working in the prefect symphony to enable us to provide valued added solutions to our customers.
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PM: How would you rate the role Indian pulp and paper equipment manufacturers play in the industry?
MS: Indian pulp and paper is a highly fragmented industry. The average paper mill size in India is much lower than global standards. Value addition is almost negligible. There have been more than 45 mills which have closed down in the last 3-4 years in Gujarat alone. An international paper manufacturing giant is said to be operating for many years at a significant loss. Such factors cause market distortion and impact long term growth of paper recycling in India.
PM: What are your company’s USPs and how is it different from the rest of the players in the market?
MS: With over 50 years of experience in the paper and packaging industry, we manufacture our own paper used for packaging. Hence, we have complete control over the process. This is because of our R&D strength, professional and process-driven approach, diverse customized solution and superior technology. We are proud to have exported paper to customers across 28 countries.
The latest technology of equipment supplied by the top most international suppliers, our paper machine width of 5.1m, proximity to ports and our strong team will enable us to provide value to our customers.
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PM: How are your company’s goals in line with the nation’s vision for a sustainable future?
MS: We firmly believe in corporate social responsibility, and choose to invest our CSR budgets into protecting and enhancing the environment and empowering our employees. Over the years, we have invested our efforts in several fields to conserve the environment. We are one of the first paper mills to introduce an Electro Static Precipitator (ESP) to control air pollution, our emissions are in line with European standards of fewer than 50 gms. As a pioneer in the industry, we use a bio-mass briquette-based steam generation plant to meet the steam requirements of our packaging division.
Moreover, paper recycling in India is fully based on waste paper recycling. There is a scrap collector for waste paper at every residential, commercial or industrial establishment. We are looking at a significant reduction in steam consumption leading to a direct decrease in carbon footprint. Our HRCT papers will enable light weighting and thereby reduce the total weight of packaging. We are one of the few mills exporting consistently to around 28 countries.
PM: Please enlighten us about the current scenario and the future of the paper industry in India.
MS: There are very few paper recyclers as well as convertors in the packaging grades who are using the latest technologies. This causes a distortion in the supply chain. In the long term, India needs to move to sq. meter-based costing to get effective packaging solutions and provide value to the customer as well as the packaging itself. India may be the only major economy in the world where per kg costing is used. We need to evolve for long term sustainability.
